Abstract
This research examined changes in the distribution of abortions among states following the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision invalidating most state laws restricting abortions, and compared that distribution with the distribution that would have been observed if all state abortion rates had been equal, and with the actual and equal rate distributions of divorces. After 1973 the influence of pre-decision abortion laws on the distribution of abortions decreased and the ecological correlations between the characteristics of states and the number of abortions changed toward a more "natural" or expected pattern. Little change was observed in the distribution of hospitals performing abortions, an indication that the decision influenced individual behavior more than it influenced existing social institutions. Restrictions enacted since 1973 had little influence on the distribution. Results are interpreted as supporting theoretical approaches that emphasize environmental control of behavior over those that emphasize individual autonomy in person-environment interactions.
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