Working Paper: NBER ID: w23366
Authors: Jason M. Lindo; Caitlin Myers; Andrea Schlosser; Scott Cunningham
Abstract: We document the effects of abortion-clinic closures on clinic access, abortions, and births using variation generated by a law that shuttered nearly half of Texas' clinics. 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%. We also demonstrate the importance of congestion with a proxy capturing effects of closures which have little impact on distance but which reduce clinics per-capita. These effects account for 59% of the effects of clinic closures on abortion.
Keywords: Abortion; Clinic Closures; Access; Congestion
JEL Codes: I11; I12; J13; K23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| abortion clinic access (J13) | abortion rates (J13) |
| 25-mile increase in distance to the nearest clinic (I14) | abortion rate (J13) |
| congestion (L91) | abortion rates (J13) |
| increased travel distances (R41) | abortion rates (J13) |
| clinic closures (J65) | congestion (L91) |
| congestion (L91) | delayed abortions (J13) |
| clinic closures (J65) | self-induced abortions (J13) |
| missing abortions (J13) | birth rates (J11) |