title: The effect of abortion restrictions on the timing of abortions.
abstract: This paper uses data on the distribution of abortions by weeks of gestation to examine the relationship between abortion restrictions and the timing of abortions. State-level data from 1974 to 1997 indicate that adoption of parental involvement laws for minors or enforcement of mandatory waiting periods is positively associated with the post-first trimester percentage of abortions. However, autocorrelation-corrected specifications indicate that enforced parental involvement laws increase the share of later-term abortions by lowering the first trimester abortion rate rather than by delaying abortions. Medicaid funding restrictions generally do not have a significant effect on the timing of abortions in our results.
authors.affiliation: NICHD Post-Doctoral Fellow, RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407, USA. mpbitler@yahoo.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bitler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zavodny
mesh_terms: D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D012044:Regression Analysis; D020458:Third-Party Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*