Back to the Future? Abortion Before & after Roe
45 Pages Posted: 25 Aug 2012 Last revised: 9 Feb 2022
Date Written: August 2012
Abstract
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. We use unique data on abortions performed in New York State from 1971-1975 to analyze the impact of legalized abortion in New York on abortion and birth rates of non-residents. We estimate that abortion rates declined by 12.0 percent for every hundred miles a woman lived from New York in the years before Roe. If Roe were overturned average travel distance to the nearest abortion provider would increase by 157 miles in the 31 states expected to prohibit abortion. Under this scenario abortion rates would fall by 14.9 percent nationally, resulting in at most, 178,800 additional births or 4.2 percent of the U.S. total in 2008. A ban in 17 states would result in a 6.0 percent decline in abortions and at most, 1.7 percent rise in births.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women's Career and Marriage Decisions
By Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz
-
The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime
By John J. Donohue and Steven D. Levitt
-
The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime
By John J. Donohue and Steven D. Levitt
-
Roe V. Wade and American Fertility
By Phillip B. Levine, Douglas Staiger, ...
-
After the Epidemic: Recent Trends in Youth Violence in the United States
By Philip J. Cook and John H. Laub
-
Abortion Legalization and Child Living Circumstances: Who is the "Marginal Child?"
By Jonathan Gruber, Phillip B. Levine, ...
-
Unobservables, Pregnancy Resolutions, and Birthweight Production Functions in New York City
By Michael Grossman and Theodore Joyce
-
Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of the 1970 State Abortion Reforms