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State Abortion Policy and Unintended Birth Rates in the United States

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  • Marshall H. Medoff

    (California State University, Long Beach)

Abstract

Restrictive state abortion laws make it more difficult and costly for women to obtain an abortion. The fundamental law of demand posits that an increase in the cost of an abortion should cause the number of abortions to decrease. This suggests that restrictive state abortion laws should cause women with unintended pregnancies to have fewer abortions and concomitantly more unintended births. This paper investigates the impact four restrictive state abortion laws—No Medicaid Funding, Parental Involvement, Mandatory Counseling and Waiting Periods—have on the unintended birth rates of the 50 US states for the year 2006. Using a variety of methodologies, the empirical results show that, contrary to the theoretical prediction, these four antiabortion laws do not have a significant positive effect on unintended birth rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Marshall H. Medoff, 2016. "State Abortion Policy and Unintended Birth Rates in the United States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 589-600, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:129:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-015-1135-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1135-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marshall H. Medoff, 2002. "The Determinants and Impact of State Abortion Restrictions," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 481-493, April.
    2. Levine, Phillip B., 2003. "Parental involvement laws and fertility behavior," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 861-878, September.
    3. Sen, Bisakha, 2003. "An indirect test for whether restricting Medicaid funding for abortion increases pregnancy-avoidance behavior," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 155-163, November.
    4. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas Staiger, 1996. "Teen Motherhood and Abortion Access," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(2), pages 467-506.
    5. Marshall Medoff, 2007. "Price, Restrictions and Abortion Demand," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 583-599, December.
    6. Levine, Phillip B. & Trainor, Amy B. & Zimmerman, David J., 1996. "The effect of Medicaid abortion funding restrictions on abortions, pregnancies and births," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 555-578, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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