Abstract
This article empirically assesses whether age-restricted access to abortion and the birth control pill influence minors’ fertility in the United States. There is not a strong consensus in previous literature regarding the relationship between laws restricting minors’ access to abortion and minors’ birthrates. This is the first study to recognize that state laws in place prior to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision enabled minors to legally consent to surgical treatment—including abortion—in some states but not in others, and to construct abortion access variables reflecting this. In this article, age-specific policy variables measure either a minor’s legal ability to obtain an abortion or to obtain the birth control pill without parental involvement. I find fairly strong evidence that young women’s birthrates dropped as a result of abortion access as well as evidence that birth control pill access led to a drop in birthrates among whites.
The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
References
Akerlof, G.A., Yellen, J.L., & Katz, M.L. (
1996
). An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States.
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 111
, 277
–317
. 10.2307/2946680Alan Guttmacher Institute. 1978. “Family Planning, Contraception, Voluntary Sterilization, and Abortion: An Analysis of Laws and Policies in the United States, Each State and Jurisdiction (as of October 1, 1976 with 1978 addenda).” A report of the Office for Family Planning, Bureau of Community Health Services, Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, DC.
Alan Guttmacher Institute. 2003. The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy 6(1).
Ananat, E.O., Gruber, J., & Levine, P.B. (
2007
). Abortion Legalization and Life-Cycle Fertility.
. Journal of Human Resources
, 42
, 375
–97
.Ananat, E.O., Gruber, J., Levine, P.B., & Staiger, D. (
2006
). “Abortion and Selection.
. National Bureau of Economic Research
: Cambridge, MA
.Ananat, E.O., & Hungerman, D. (
2007
). “The Power of the Pill for the Next Generation.
. Cambridge, MA.
: National Bureau of Economic Research
.Angrist, J.D., & Evans, W.N. (
1999
). Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of the 1970 State Abortion Reforms.
. Research in Labor Economics
, 18
, 75
–113
. 10.1016/S0147-9121(99)18020-8Bailey, M.J. (
2006
). More Power to the Pill: The Impact of Contraceptive Freedom on Women’s Life Cycle Labor Supply.
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 121
, 289
–320
.Becker, G.S. (
1960
). “An Economic Analysis of Fertility.
. In Coale, A.J. (Ed.), Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries
(pp. 209
–40
). Princeton, NJ
: Princeton University Press
.Becker, G. S. (
1981
). A Treatise on the Family
. Cambridge, MA
: Harvard University Press
.Becker, G.S., & Lewis, H.G. (
1973
). On the Interaction Between the Quantity and Quality of Children.
. Journal of Political Economy
, 81
, 14
–64
. 10.1086/260084Bertrand, M., Duflo, E., & Mullainathan, S. (
2004
). How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates?
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 119
, 249
–75
. 10.1162/003355304772839588Bitler, M., & Zavodny, M. (
2001
). The Effect of Abortion Restrictions on the Timing of Abortions.
. Journal of Health Economics
, 20
, 1011
–32
. 10.1016/S0167-6296(01)00106-0Bertrand, M. (
2002
). Did Abortion Legalization Reduce the Number of Unwanted Children? Evidence From Adoptions.
. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
, 34
(1
), 25
–33
. 10.2307/3030229Blank, R.M., George, C.C., & London, R.A. (
1996
). State Abortion Rates: The Impact of Policies, Providers, Politics, Demographics and Economic Environment.
. Journal of Health Economics
, 15
, 513
–53
. 10.1016/S0167-6296(96)00494-8Cartoof, V.G., & Klerman, L.V. (
1986
). Parental Consent for Abortion: Impact of the Massachusetts Law.
. American Journal of Public Health
, 76
, 397
–400
. 10.2105/AJPH.76.4.397Charles, K.K., & Stephens, M. (
2006
). Abortion Legalization and Substance Use.
. Journal of Law and Economics
, 49
, 481
–505
. 10.1086/508249Age of Majority
. (1972
). Lexington, KY
: Iron Works Pike
.Age of Majority (Updated)
. (1973
). Lexington, KY
: Iron Works Pike
.Donohue, J.J., & Levitt, S.D. (
2001
). The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime.
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 116
, 379
–420
. 10.1162/00335530151144050Foote, C.L. and C.F. Goetz. 2005. “Testing Economic Hypotheses With State-Level Data: A Comment on Donohue and Levitt (2001).” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Working Paper #05-15.
Goldin, C., & Katz, L.F. (
2002
). The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions.
. Journal of Political Economy
, 110
, 730
–70
. 10.1086/340778Greenberger, M.D., & Connor, K. (
1991
). Parental Notice and Consent for Abortion: Out of Step With Family Law Principles and Policies.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 23
, 31
–35
. 10.2307/2135398Gruber, J. (
1994
). The Incidence of Mandated Maternity Benefi ts.
. American Economic Review
, 84
, 622
–41
.Gruber, J., Levine, P.B., & Staiger, D. (
1999
). Abortion Legalization and Child Living Circumstances: Who is the Marginal Child?
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 114
, 263
–92
. 10.1162/003355399556007Hass-Wilson, D. (
1996
). The Impact of State Abortion Restrictions on Minors’ Demand for Abortions.
. Journal of Human Resources
, 31
, 140
–58
. 10.2307/146045Heckman, J.J., & Willis, R.J. (
1975
). “Estimation of a Stochastic Dynamic Model of Reproduction: An Econometric Approach.
. In Terleckyj, N. (Ed.), Household Production and Consumption 1975
(pp. 99
–138
). New York
: Columbia University Press
.Henshaw, S.K., & Kost, K. (
1992
). Parental Involvement in Minors’ Abortion Decisions.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 24
, 196
–207
. 10.2307/2135870Joyce, T. (
2004
). Did Legalized Abortion Lower Crime?
. Journal of Human Resources
, 39
(1
), 1
–28
. 10.2307/3559003Joyce, T., & Kaestner, R. (
1996
). State Reproductive Policies and Adolescent Pregnancy Resolution: The Case of Parental Involvement Laws.
. Journal of Health Economics
, 15
, 579
–607
. 10.1016/S0167-6296(96)00496-1Joyce, T., Kaestner, R., & Colman, S. (
2006
). Changes in Abortions and Births and the Texas Parental Notifi cation Law.
. New England Journal of Medicine
, 354
, 1031
–38
. 10.1056/NEJMsa054047Kane, T.J., & Staiger, D. (
1996
). Teen Motherhood and Abortion Access.
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 111
, 467
–506
. 10.2307/2946685Levine, P.B. (
2003
). Parental Involvement Laws and Fertility Behavior.
. Journal of Health Economics
, 22
(5
), 861
–78
. 10.1016/S0167-6296(03)00063-8Levine, P.B (
2004
). Sex and Consequences: Abortion, Public Policy, and the Economics of Fertility
. Prince ton, NJ
: Princeton University Press
.Levine, P.B., & Staiger, D. (
2002
). “Abortion as Insurance.
. National Bureau of Economic Research
: Cambridge, MA.
.Levine, P.B., Staiger, D., Kane, T.J., & Zimmerman, D.J. (
1999
). Roe v. Wade and American Fertility.
. American Journal of Public Health
, 89
, 199
–203
. 10.2105/AJPH.89.2.199Lott, J.R., & Whitley, J. (
2007
). Abortion and Crime: Unwanted Children and Out-of-Wedlock Births.
. Economic Inquiry
, 45
, 304
–24
. 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2006.00040.xMerz, J.F., Jackson, C.A., & Klerman, J.A. (
1995
). A Review of Abortion Policy: Legality, Medicaid Funding, and Parental Involvement, 1967–1994.
. Women’s Rights Law Reporter
, 17
(1
), 1
–61
.Meyer, B.D. (
1995
). Natural and Quasi-Experiments in Economics.
. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics
, 13
, 151
–61
. 10.2307/1392369Pantano, J. (
2007
). “Unwanted Fertility, Contraceptive Technology and Crime: Exploiting a Natural Experiment in Access to The Pill.
. Los Angeles
: California Center for Population Research, University of California
.Paul, E.W., & Pilpel, H.F. (
1979
). Teenagers Pregnancy: The Law in 1979.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 11
, 297
–302
. 10.2307/2134462Paul, E.W., Pilpel, H.F., & Wechsler, N.F. (
1974
). Pregnancy, Teenagers and the Law, 1974.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 6
, 142
–47
. 10.2307/2134123Paul, E.W. (
1976
). Pregnancy, Teenagers and the Law, 1976.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 8
, 16
–21
. 10.2307/2134185Pilpel, H.F., & Wechsler, N.F. (
1969
). Birth Control, Teenagers and the Law.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 1
, 29
–36
. 10.2307/2133742Paul, E.W. (
1971
). Birth Control, Teenagers and the Law: A New Look, 1971.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 3
, 337
–45
.Ranjit, N., Bankole, A., Darroch, J.E., & Singh, S. (
2001
). Contraceptive Failure in the First Two Years of Use: Differences Across Socioeconomic Subgroups.
. Family Planning Perspectives
, 33
, 19
–27
. 10.2307/2673738Reddy, D.M., Fleming, R., & Swain, C. (
2002
). Effect of Mandatory Parental Notification on Adolescent Girls’ Use of Sexual Health Care Services.
. Journal of the American Medical Association
, 288
, 710
–14
. 10.1001/jama.288.6.710Rogers, J.L., Boruch, R.F., Stoms, G.B., & DeMoya, D. (
1991
). Impact of the Minnesota Parental Notification Law on Abortion and Birth.
. American Journal of Public Health
, 81
, 294
–98
. 10.2105/AJPH.81.3.294Sen, B. (
2007
). State Abortion Restrictions and Child Fatal-Injury: An Exploratory Study.
. Southern Economic Journal
, 73
, 553
–74
.Sklar, J., & Berkov, B. (
1974
). Abortion, Illegitimacy, and the American Birth Rate.
. Science
, 185
, 909
–15
. 10.1126/science.185.4155.909U.S. Department of Census. Intercensal Estimates of the Resident Population of States 1970 to 1980. Available online at http://www.censu1980/e7080sta.txt.
U.S. Department of Census. 1970-1979 Population Estimates by Age, Sex, and Race, PE-19. Available online at http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/pre-1980/PE-19.csv.
U.S. Department of Health and Economic Welfare (DHEW) Center for Family Planning Program Development (Planned Parenthood-World Population). 1974. Family Planning, Contraception, and Voluntary Sterilization: An Analysis of Laws and Policies in the United States, Each State and Jurisdiction (as of September 1971).” U.S. DHEW Publication No. 74-16001, Rockville, MD.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Center for Health Statistics. Natality Detail File, 1968–1979: [United States] [Computer file]. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics [producer], 1969–1980. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002–2003.
Willis, R.J. (
1999
). A Theory of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing.
. Journal of Political Economy
, 107
, S33
–S64
. 10.1086/250103Zavodny, M. (
2004
). Fertility and Parental Consent for Minors to Receive Contraceptives.
. American Journal of Public Health
, 94
, 1347
–51
. 10.2105/AJPH.94.8.1347© Population Association of America 2008
2008
Issue Section:
Articles
