Federal Abortion Research Articles

Violent Offenders: Appraising and Managing Risk

Federal Abortion Policy and Politics: 1973-1996 Why is Abortion Such a Controversial issue in the United States Barriers to Access to Abortion Services The Impact of Anti-abortion Activities on Women Seeking Abortions Black Women and the Question of Abortion Latinos and Abortion Abortion and Asian Pacific Islander Americans The Acceptability of Medical Abortion to Women Understanding the Relationship of Violence Against Women to Unwanted Pregnancy and it's Resolution Testing a Model of the Psychological Consequences of Abortion Men and Abortion: The Gender Politics of Pregnancy Resolution Abortion Among Adolescents A Cognitive Approach to Patient-Centered Abortion Care Abortion Issues in Psychotherapy Bringing Lessons Learned to the United States Improving Access to Abortion Services Abortion Practice, Policy, and Research: Recommendations for the 21st Century

Party and Free Votes in Canada

This study extends the analysis of parliamentary free voting by examining a non-British example: Canadian MPs' voting behavior on Bill C-43, which attempted to establish a federal abortion law. As in most previous studies, we find that partisanship was by far the best predictor of voting behavior. Unlike previous research, however, we analyze free votes at every stage of the legislative process and find different voting dynamics at different stages. In general, Canadian MPs felt at greater liberty to vote as their consciences dictated when their votes mattered least. On the key roll calls leading to final disposition, however, when voting was most visible and outcomes most important, Canadian MPs re-coalesced around their parties.

Public Funding for Contraceptive, Sterilization and Abortion Services, 1994

In 1994, federal and state funding for contraceptive services and supplies reached +715 million. Funding totaled +148 million for contraceptive sterilization and +90 million for abortion services. According to a survey of state health, Medicaid and social service agencies, reported spending on contraceptive services and supplies increased by 11% between 1992 and 1994. In the same period, spending under Title X rose by 37%, making it the third largest public funding source for contraceptive services and supplies. The largest source of public funds for family planning services continues to be the joint federal-state Medicaid program. Medicaid family planning expenditures increased by only 4% between 1992 and 1994, a sizable decrease in growth from previous years. State funds continue to be the second largest source, providing almost one-quarter of reported public expenditures in 1994. The maternal and child health and social services block grants remain relatively minor sources of support nationally, although in a handful of states they provide the majority of public-sector funds. State governments were virtually the sole source of public support for the 203,200 abortions provided in 1994 to low-income women. Despite the loosening of federal abortion funding criteria in FY 1994 permitting payment in cases of rape and incest, federally funded abortions numbered only 282.

Doctors and dying declarations: the role of the state in abortion regulation in British Columbia, 1917-37.

In Canada, the history of state regulation of abortion is underexamined, leaving the general impression that the state played a secondary role to that of the medical profession in attempting to enforce the federal anti-abortion law. Studies have focused on "regular" physicians as a regulator of abortion to such an extent that the state's involvement in this process has been largely neglected or obscured. In contrast, this study highlights the actions taken by lower-level state agencies, namely, the Coroner's Inquisition and municipal and provincial police, to enforce the federal abortion law in British Columbia. The study examines the records of the inquests held into the deaths of 34 women from illegal abortion and offers three main observations. First, state agencies consistently sought information about abortionists and the circumstances surrounding the abortions from the women in hospital, their families, lovers, and doctors. Especially important is how authorities routinely attempted to extract dying declarations from the ill women. Second, while it is clear doctors participated in the investigative process, the records suggest they were often ambivalent or reluctant to do so. Finally, this study concludes that many of the actors involved in these events resisted the authorities' attempts to enforce the law, some successfully, thereby effectively undermining state regulatory practices as a result.

After the Hyde Amendment: Public Funding for Abortion in FY 1978

Analyzes the level of state and federal abortion funding during FY 1978, the first year after enforcement of the Hyde amendment, and assesses how much the Hyde amendment increased the unmet need for publicly funded abortions in this period. Data on the number of abortions performed in each state and on Medicaid expenditures come from the Alan Guttmacher Institute 1978 survey of state Medicaid agencies and the quarterly reports filed by state Medicaid agencies with the Health Care Financing Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services. From FY 1977 to FY 1978, the number of subsidized abortions decreased by 101,000, or more than 1/3. During FY 1978, about $52 million was spent by federal and state Medicaid agencies for about 194,000 abortions, mostly for welfare recipients, and about 99% of those monies were state funds. The 16 states and District of Columbia which adopted or maintained a liberal standard accounted for 98% of all public funds expended for abortion services during FY 1978. 14 states which adopted standards parallel to federal restrictions spent about $290,000 for about 600 abortions, 83% of which involved federal reimbursement. 19 states with more restrictive standards than the federal ones funded about 1200 abortions costing about $535,000, with 80$ of public funds coming from state sources only. In the year following the abortion restrictions the unmet need for abortions increased to 233,500. Where the use of state funds were restricted, unmet need rose to approximately 99% of total need.