Undue Burden Beyond Texas

An Analysis of Abortion Clinic Closures, Births, and Abortions in Wisconsin

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11684284
AutoresJoanna Venator (0000-0002-1108-1446, National Bureau of Economic Research, autor de correspondencia), Jason M Fletcher (0000-0001-8843-0563, University of Wisconsin–Madison, autor de correspondencia), Jason Fletcher (0000-0002-4760-7200)
Año2020
Volumen40
Número3
Páginas774-813
Fecha de publicación2020-11-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Policy Analysis and Management (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0276-8739 • E-ISSN: 1520-6688
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pam.22263
OpenAlexW3124090640
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas25

In this paper, we estimate the impacts of abortion clinic closures on access to clinics in terms of distance and congestion, abortion rates, and birth rates. Between 2010 and 2017, Wisconsin passed three laws regulating abortion providers and two of five abortion clinics closed in Wisconsin, increasing the distance to the nearest clinic to 55 miles on average and to over 100 miles in the most affected counties. We use a difference‐in‐differences design to estimate the effect of changes in travel distance on births and abortions, using within‐county variation across time in distance to identify the effect. We find that a 100‐mile increase in distance to the nearest clinic is associated with 30.7 percent fewer abortions and 3.2 percent more births. We see no significant effect of increased congestion at remaining clinics on abortion rates. Interacting the legislative changes with distance, we find that the effects of distance on abortion are approximately 1.33 time stronger in the presence of laws requiring multiple physician visits to obtain an abortion. Our results suggest that even small numbers of clinic closures can result in significant restrictions to abortion access of similar magnitude to those seen in Texas where a greater number of clinics ceased operations

Abortion · Environmental health · Family planning · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Sociology · Demography · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Healthcare Policy and Management · Medicine · Reproductive Health and Contraception