Abortion Law and Abortion Rates
Many people – pro-life and pro-choice alike – believe that abortion restrictions don’t impact overall abortion rates. This is a myth. Relatively minor restrictions such as limits on taxpayer funding and mandatory waiting periods significantly reduce abortion rates. Abortion bans have an even greater effect. These results hold when accounting for illegal “off the books” abortions.
Below we link to research in chronological order presented over decades in a variety of publications establishing that abortion restrictions decrease abortions.
Research accounting for illegal abortions
While illegal abortions are difficult to quantify, births are more straightforward. If it were true that all people who want abortions obtain them regardless of the law, abortion laws should have no relationship to birth rates. That’s not the case. Below is a list of research that examines abortion laws in relation to birth rates, fertility rates, unintended births, and similar metrics. The research finds that greater abortion restrictions are associated with more births and more lax restrictions are associated with fewer births, suggesting that when abortions are less accessible, fewer women obtain them.
Public Health Reports (1990)
Analysis of statewide data from the three States indicated that following restrictions on State funding of abortions, the proportion of reported pregnancies resulting in births, rather than in abortions, increased in all three States.
“Trends in Rates of Live Births and Abortions Following State Restrictions on Public Funding of Abortion,” Korenbrot, Brindis, & Priddy, Public Health Reports, November-December 1990, Vol. 105, No. 6
Family Planning Perspectives (1998)
The decline in geographic access to abortion providers during the 1980s accounted for a small but significant portion of the rise in the percentage of women heading families.
“State abortion policy, geographic access to abortion providers and changing family formation,” Lichter, McLaughlin, & Ribar, Family Planning Perspectives, Nov-Dec 1998:30(6):281-7
American Journal of Public Health (1999)
States legalizing abortion experienced a 4% decline in fertility relative to states where the legal status of abortion was unchanged.
“Roe v Wade and American fertility,” Levine, Staiger, Kane, & Zimmerman, American Journal of Public Health, 1999 February; 89(2): 199-203
Journal of Human Resources (2007)
Our results indicate that much of the reduction in fertility at the time abortion was legalized was permanent in that women did not have more subsequent births as a result.
“Abortion Legalization and Life-Cycle Fertility,” Ananat, Gruber, & Levine, The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Spring, 2007) pp375-397
Demography (2008)
Overall, the results show that laws that increased minors’ access to abortion in the 1960s and 1970s had a larger impact on minors’ birthrates than laws that increased oral contraceptive access.
“Fertility Effects of Abortion and Birth Control Pill Access for Minors,” Guldi, Demography, v.45(4); 2008 Nov
Guttmacher (2009)
Approximately one-fourth of women who would have Medicaid-funded abortions instead give birth when this funding is unavailable … Studies have found little evidence that lack of Medicaid funding has resulted in illegal abortions.
“Restrictions on Medicaid Funding for Abortions: A Literature Review,” Henshaw, Joyce, Dennis, Finer, & Blanchard, Guttmacher Institute, June 2009
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (2009)
Robustness tests supported the association between access to abortion and decreased birthrates, while the relationship between access to the pill and birthrates received less support.
“Abortion or Pill Access Is Associated with Lower Birthrates Among Minors,” Thomas, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Volume 41, Issue 1, March 2009, Page 65
Journal of Adolescent Health (2010)
Minors in states with mandatory waiting periods were more than two times as likely to report an unintended birth.
“How Are Restrictive Abortion Statutes Associated With Unintended Teen Birth?” Coles, Makino, Stanwood, Dozier, & Klein, Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 47, Issue 2, August 2010, Pages 160-167
National Bureau of Economic Research (2012)
[If Roe v. Wade were overturned] abortion rates would fall by 14.9 percent nationally, resulting in at most, 178,800 additional births or 4.2 percent of the U.S. total in 2008. A ban in 17 states would result in a 6.0 percent decline in abortions and at most, 1.7 percent rise in births.
“Back to the Future? Abortion Before & After Roe,” Joyce, Tan, & Zhang, National Bureau of Economic Research, August 2012
American Journal of Public Health (2014)
We estimated that each year more than 4000 US women are denied an abortion because of facility gestational limits and must carry unwanted pregnancies to term.
“Denial of Abortion Because of Provider Gestational Age Limits in the United States,” Upadhyay, Weitz, Jones, Barar, & Foster, American Journal of Public Health, 2014, 104, 1687_1694
Demography (2014)
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.
“The Effect of Anti-Abortion Legislation on Nineteenth Century Fertility,” Laney, Demography, 2014 Jun; 51(3): 939-948
PLoS One (2017)
This [ultrasound] law caused an increase in viewing rates and a statistically significant but small increase in continuing pregnancy rates.
“Evaluating the impact of a mandatory pre-abortion ultrasound viewing law: A mixed methods study,” Upadhyay, Kimport, Belusa, Johns, Laube, & Roberts, PLoS One. 2017; 12(7); e0178871
Social Science Research Network (2017)
We estimate that over the past 25 years, parental involvement laws have resulted in half a million additional teen births.
“Did Parental Involvement Laws Grow Teeth? The Effects of State Restrictions on Minors’ Access to Abortion,” Myers & Ladd, Social Science Research Network, 31 Aug 2017
(See an SPL blog post about this specific paper here.)
Sexuality Research and Social Policy (2019)
Participants were asked if they had considered abortion for this pregnancy and, if so, reasons they did not obtain one…more participants who had considered abortion in Louisiana than Maryland reported a policy-related reason (primarily lack of funding for the abortion) as a reason (22% Louisiana, 2% Maryland, p < 0.001).
“Consideration of and Reasons for Not Obtaining Abortion Among Women Entering Prenatal Care in Southern Louisiana and Baltimore, Maryland,” Roberts, Kimport, Kriz, Holl, Mark & Williams, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 16, 476-487 (2019)
BMC Women’s Health (2019)
29% of Medicaid eligible pregnant women who would have an abortion with Medicaid coverage, instead give birth.
“Estimating the proportion of Medicaid-eligible pregnant women in Louisiana who do not get abortions when Medicaid does not cover abortion,” Roberts, Johns, Williams, Wingo, & Upadhyay, BMC Women’s Health, 19, 78 (2019)
APHA Annual Meeting (2019)
Greater exposure to ARs [abortion restrictions] was associated with increased risk of UIB [unintended birth].
“Implications of Restrictive Abortion Laws on Unintended Births in the U.S.: A Cross-Sectional Multilevel Analysis,” Rice & Hall, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, from APHA’s 2019 Annual Meeting and Expo, November 2019
PLos One (2020)
We examine characteristics and experiences of women who considered, but did not have, an abortion for this pregnancy….Interviewees who considered abortion and were subject to multiple restrictions on abortion identified material and instrumental impacts of policies that, collectively, contributed to them not having an abortion.
“Complex situations: Economic insecurity, mental health, and substance use among pregnant women who consider – but do not have – abortions,” Roberts, Berglas, & Kimport, PLoS One, 15(1): e0226004, January 2020
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (2020)
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.
“Undue Burden Beyond Texas: An Analysis of Abortion Clinic Closures, Births, And Abortions in Wisconsin,” Venator & Fletcher, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 40 Issue 3, 03 November 2020
Social Science & Medicine (2021)
Restrictive state-level abortion policies are associated with not having an abortion at all.
“State abortion policies and Medicaid coverage of abortion are associated with pregnancy outcomes among individuals seeking abortion recruited using Google Ads: A national cohort study,” Upadhyay, McCook, Bennett, Cartwright, & Roberts, Social Science & Medicine, Volume 274, April 2021
PLoS One (2022)
Barriers intersect to not just delay, but to prevent people from obtaining abortion.
“A multi-methods feasibility study on the use of Facebook, Google Ads, and Reddit to collect data on abortion-seeking experiences from people who considered but did not obtain abortion care in the United States,” Moseson et al, PLoS One, 2022; 17(3): e0264748. March 2022
JAMA Network (2022)
Living far from an abortion facility had 2-fold the odds of still seeking an abortion or planning to continue pregnancy at the 4-week follow-up survey.
“Association Between Distance to an Abortion Facility and Abortion or Pregnancy Outcome Among a Prospective Cohort of People Seeking Abortion Online,” Pleasants, et al, JAMA Network, May 2022
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2023)
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimate that a Texas abortion ban that went into effect in September 2021 was associated with 9,799 additional live births in the state between April and December 2022.
John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
IZA Institute of Labor Economics (2023)
States with abortion bans experienced an average increase in births of 2.3 percent relative to states where abortion was not restricted…amounting to approximately 32,000 additional annual births resulting from abortion bans.
“The Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility,” IZA Institute of Labor Economics, November 2023
Research not accounting for illegal abortions
Below is a list of research that examines abortion restrictions in relation to abortion rates and finds that increased restrictions are associated with decreased rates and vice-versa. However, this research does not explicitly account for changes in illegal abortion rates. We want to be transparent about that context, although the results below would be consistent with the research listed above which did account for potential illegal abortions.
Family Planning Perspectives (1980)
If all states observed the Hyde Amendment restrictions, many thousands of Medicaid-eligible women who would have obtained abortions under the 1977 funding policy would not receive them.
“The impact of restricting Medicaid financing for abortion,” Trussell, Menken, Lindheim, & Vaughan, Family Planning Perspectives, May-Jun 1980; 12(3):120-3, 127-30
Family Planning Perspectives (1994)
The data show that 13% fewer had abortions in August through December than would have been expected on the basis of the number who had abortions in January through July.
“The Effects of Mandatory Delay Laws On Abortion Patients and Providers,” Althaus & Henshaw, Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 26, No. 5 (Sep-Oct 1994)
Journal of Health Economics (1996)
A maximal estimate suggests that 22 percent of the abortions among low-income women that are publicly funded do not take place after funding is eliminated.
“State abortion rates the impact of policies, providers, politics, demographics, and economic environment,” Blank, George, & London, Journal of Health Economics, Volume 15, Issue 5, October 1996, pages 513-553
Social Science & Medicine (1997)
Access variables, including the restrictiveness of state laws regulating abortion, state funding of abortions for poor women and the availability of hospital abortions, affect abortion rates directly.
“The role of access in explaining state abortion rates,” Gober, Social Science & Medicine, Volume 44, Issue 7, April 1997, Pages 1003-1016
Family Planning Perspectives (1997)
The incidence of abortion is found to be lower in states where access to providers is reduced and state policies are restrictive.
“The effects of economic conditions and access to reproductive health services on state abortion rates and birthrates,” Matthews, Ribar, & Wilhelm, Family Planning Perspectives, Mar-Apr 1997; 29(2):52-60
The New England Journal of Medicine (2006)
The Texas parental notification law was associated with a decline in abortion rates among minors from 15 to 17 years of age.
“Changes in Abortions and Births and the Texas Parental Notification Law,” Joyce, Kaestner, & Colman, The New England Journal of Medicine 2006; 354:1031-1038
State Politics & Policy Quarterly (2011)
A series of regressions on a comprehensive time series cross-sectional data set provides evidence that several types of state-level anti-abortion legislation result in statistically significant declines in both the abortion rate and the abortion ratio.
“Analyzing the Effect of Anti-Abortion U.S. State Legislation in the Post-Casey Era,” New, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, Vol 11, Issue 1, 2011
State Politics & Policy Quarterly (2014)
The empirical results add to the substantial body of peer-reviewed research which finds that public funding restrictions, parental involvement laws, and properly designed informed consent laws all reduce the incidence of abortion.
“Analyzing the Impact of U.S. Antiabortion Legislation in the Post-Casey Era: A Reassessment,” New, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, Vol 14, Issue 3, 2014
Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing (2017)
We found that a 100-mile increase in distance to the nearest abortion facility was associated with a 10% decrease in the overall abortion rate.
“Abortion Facility Closings and Abortion Rates in Texas,” Quast, Gonzalez, Ziemba, INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing. January 2017.
JAMA (2017)
Counties with no facility in 2014 but no change in distance to a facility between 2012 and 2014 had a 1.3% (95% CI, −1.5% to 4.0%) decline in abortions. When the change in distance was 100 miles or more, the number of abortions decreased 50.3% (95% CI, 48.0% to 52.7%).
“Change in Distance to Nearest Facility and Abortion in Texas, 2012 to 2014,” Grossman, White, & Hopkins, JAMA, 2017;317(4):437-439
Social Science Research Network (2017)
Increases in distance have significant effects for women initially living within 200 miles of a clinic. The largest effect is for those nearest to clinics for whom a 25-mile increase reduces abortion 10%.
“How Far is Too Far? New Evidence on Abortion Clinic Closures, Access, and Abortions,” Cunningham, Lindo, Myers, & Schlosser, Social Science Research Network, April 2017
Journal of Political Economy (2017)
Trends in sexual behavior suggest that young women’s increased access to the birth control pill fueled the sexual revolution, but neither these trends nor difference-in-difference estimates support the view that this also led to substantial changes in family formation. Rather, the estimates robustly suggest that it was liberalized access to abortion that allowed large numbers of women to delay marriage and motherhood.
“The Power of Abortion Policy: Reexamining the Effects of Young Women’s Access to Reproductive Control,” Myers, Journal of Political Economy, Volume 125, Number 6, December 2017
Contraception (2019)
…the abortion rate is predicted to fall by 32.8% (95% confidence interval 25.9-39.6%) in the year following a Roe reversal.
“Predicted changes in abortion access and incidence in a post-Roe world,” Myers, Jones, & Upadhyay, Contraception, 2019 Nov; 100(5): 367-373
JAMA (2020)
A highly restrictive policy climate, when compared with a less restrictive one, was associated with a significantly lower abortion rate by 0.48 abortions per 1000 women, representing a 17% decrease from the median abortion rate of 2.89 per 1000 women.
“Association of Highly Restrictive State Abortion Policies With Abortion Rates, 2000-2014,” Brown, Hebert, & Gilliam, JAMA Network, 2020;3(11):e2024610
A note on international comparisons
The above research focuses on the United States. Frequently people will point to international trends, citing an apparent lack of correlation between abortion laws and abortion rates as evidence that laws don’t decrease rates. These comparisons typically fail to account for confounding variables, most notably unintended pregnancy rates. Often the same countries with stricter abortion laws have higher unintended pregnancy rates. The law decreases abortion while the higher unintended pregnancy rate increases it, so the two factors have mitigating outcomes that mask their individual effects. When we control for unintended pregnancy rates, data indicate abortion laws decrease abortion rates even on an international scale. Our Executive Director, Monica Snyder, discusses this phenomenon in detail in her presentation “Deconstructing Three Pro-Choice Myths,” which you can view here. You can also read more in her post “Abortion laws decrease abortion rates internationally, but high unintended pregnancy rates can mask this effect.” (en español aquí)