title: The effect of anti-abortion legislation on nineteenth century fertility.
abstract: Using nineteenth century legal information combined with census information, I examine the effect of state laws that restricted American women's access to abortion on the ratio of children to women. I estimate an increase in the birthrate of 4 % to 12 % when abortion is restricted. In the absence of anti-abortion laws, fertility would have been 5 % to 12 % lower in the early twentieth century.
authors.affiliation: Bush School, Texas A&M University, Mailstop 4220, College Station, TX, 77845, USA, jlahey@nber.org.
authors.forename: Joanna N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Lahey
mesh_terms: D000024:Abortion, Illegal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D001723:Birth Rate; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology