New Evidence on the Effects of Mandatory Waiting Periods for Abortion

Jason Lindo and Mayra Pineda-Torres ()

No 26228, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Beyond a handful of studies examining early-adopting states in the early 1990s, little is known about the causal effects of mandatory waiting periods for abortion. In this study we evaluate the effects of a Tennessee law enacted in 2015 that requires women to make an additional trip to abortion providers for state-directed counseling at least 48 hours before they can obtain an abortion. Our difference-in-differences and synthetic-control estimates indicate that the introduction of the mandatory waiting period caused a 48–73 percent increase in the share of abortions obtained during the second trimester. Our analysis examining overall abortion rates is less conclusive but suggests a reduction caused by the waiting period. Putting these estimates into context, our back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that Tennessee’s MWP increased the monetary costs of obtaining an abortion by as much as $929 for some women.

JEL-codes: I11 I12 I18 J13 K23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published as Jason M. Lindo & Mayra Pineda-Torres, 2021. "New Evidence on the Effects of Mandatory Waiting Periods for Abortion," Journal of Health Economics, vol 80.

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Journal Article: New Evidence on the Effects of Mandatory Waiting Periods for Abortion (2021)
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