TY  - JOUR
AU  - Blank,Rebecca M.
AU  - George,Christine C.
AU  - London,Rebecca A.
TI  - State Abortion Rates: The Impact of Policies, Providers, Politics, Demographics, and Economic Environment
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4853
PY  - 1994
Y2  - September 1994
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4853
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4853.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Rebecca M. Blank
Under Secretary for Economic Affairs
Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room 4848
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20230
Tel: 202-482-3727
Fax: 202-482-0432
E-Mail: rblank@doc.gov
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1995-01-01
AB  - This paper uses data on abortion rates from 1974-88, to estimate two-stage least squares models with fixed state and year effects.  The results indicate that implementing restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortion results in lower aggregate abortion rates in-state and higher abortion rates among nearby states, suggesting one of the main effects of these policies is to induce cross-state migration for abortion services.  The effect of these restrictions on actual abortions among state residents is much smaller; a maximal estimate suggests that 22 percent of the abortions among low-income women that are publicly funded do not take place after funding is eliminated.  We also have substantial evidence that a larger number of abortion providers in a state increases the abortion rate within the state, primarily through inducing cross-state migration, with nonhospital providers being particularly important. Political affiliation variables have mixed effects and are difficult to interpret.  Controlling for state fixed effects, the effect of changes in demographic and economic variables over time is typically small, although a rise in unemployment has consistently positive effects on abortion rates.
ER  -