An economic analysis of abortion: the effect of travel cost on teenagers

Abstract

This paper estimates the responsiveness of abortion demand among teenage women to variations in the local availability of abortion services. This information is especially important because the policy debate centers on how restricting the availability of abortion services will affect abortion rates. In addition, it is commonly thought that teenage and adult women differ in the abortion decision process, making it necessary to evaluate teens separately from adults. Data from the state of Texas, where abortion is available in 19 of 254 counties, allow for approximating county-level variations in the travel cost of acquiring an abortion. The results suggest that abortion rates of teenage women 13 to 17 years of age are sensitive to variations in travel cost. Counties in which teenage women must travel longer distances to obtain an abortion have lower abortion rates both per woman and per pregnancy. In addition, a comparison of teenage women and all women of childbearing age shows characteristic differences in the quantitative effects of travel cost and other socioeconomic variables.