Working Paper: NBER ID: w28058
Authors: Martin Andersen; Sylvia Bryan; David Slusky
Abstract: In 2020, 33 states banned elective medical procedures; 13 included surgical abortions. Clinics in states banning elective procedures experienced an 18% reduction in mobility. Including controls for COVID-19 incidence and stay-at-home orders resulted in no statistically significant change from elective procedure bans but still a 9% reduction from surgical abortions bans, driven by clinics providing surgical abortions. Clinics offering surgical abortions had mobility reductions following elective procedure bans in states supportive of abortion, demonstrating the salience of our results in a post-Roe U.S. Abortions dropped by 2% relative to 2019 (18,000 fewer). And these restrictions lead to 6,400 additional births.
Keywords: COVID-19; abortion; healthcare access; elective procedures
JEL Codes: H75; I18; J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 restrictions (R48) | abortion clinic visits (J13) |
| elective procedure bans (K16) | abortion clinic visits (J13) |
| stay-at-home orders (H76) | abortion clinic visits (J13) |
| surgical abortion bans (J13) | abortion clinic visits (J13) |
| COVID-19 restrictions (R48) | total number of abortions (J13) |