The effect of Medicaid abortion funding restrictions on abortions, pregnancies and births

Abstract

This paper considers whether state Medicaid abortion funding restrictions affect the likelihood of getting pregnant, having an abortion and bearing a child. We exploit a natural experiment afforded by Supreme Court decisions and employ more traditional multivariate models with alternative fixed effect specifications. An analysis of 12 years of state-level data indicate that restrictions are associated with a reduction in abortions and either no change or a reduction in births, implying fewer pregnancies. Subsequent analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) is consistent with these findings and show the response is concentrated among the low-income population.