What Happens the Morning After? The Costs and Benets of Expanding Access to Emergency Contraception

Tal Gross, Jeanne Lafortune and Corinne Low

No 425, Documentos de Trabajo from Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Abstract: Emergency contraception (EC) can prevent pregnancy after sex, but only if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. Over the past 15 years, access to EC has been expanded at both the state and federal level. This paper studies the impact of those policies. We find that expanded access to EC has had no statistically significant effect on birth or abortion rates. Expansions of access, however, have changed the venue in which the drug is obtained, shifting its provision from hospital emergency departments to pharmacies. We find evidence that this shift may have led to a decrease in reports of sexual assault.

Keywords: Desalination; Emergency contraception; Fertility; Abortion; Sexual assault (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: What Happens the Morning After? The Costs and Benefits of Expanding Access to Emergency Contraception (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ioe:doctra:425

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