Health

Could Restrictions to the ‘Supply Side’ Lead to Fewer Abortions?

Abortion opponents have tried several tactics to try and get women considering abortion to reconsider. An article in The New England Journal of Medicine is saying these tactics have not been very effective.

Theodore Joyce with the National Bureau of Economic Research writes, tactics targeting the “supply side” — the doctors, nurses, clinicians and others who are associated with providing abortions — to prevent abortions from happening has had some success.

Joyce cites examples of states that have passed legislation that restricts abortion service providers and states that if this trend continues on a state-by-state basis, women would likely have to travel father to find a clinic to administer an abortion, which would be an added deterrent.

Examples Joyce includes are the following:

  • The Kansas Department of Health and Environment passed new regulations that require abortion clinics to meet certain facility stipulations, such as a required square footage for procedure rooms and janitorial closets. Joyce notes that three Kansas clinics were temporarily granted an injunction to continue operations after two physicians filed a lawsuit.
  • The Texas‘s Woman’s Right to Know Act, which includes both demand and supply side components, requires abortions of fetuses 16 weeks or older to take place in a hospital or “ambulatory surgical center,” which have requirements for staffing and facility specifications. Joyce writes that when this act went into effect in 2004, the closest ambulatory surgical center meeting the new requirements went from 33 miles away to 252 miles.
  • Missouri and Virginia, in recent years, enacted statutes  that an abortion facility performing five or more first-trimester abortions in a month would need to meet restrictions; Missouri also includes clinics that perform at least one abortion after 12 weeks of gestation. Virginia‘s statute is set to go in effect in 2012 after being signed by the governor and Missouri’s statute was put on hold due to “economic impact.”
  • Arizona now has a law that physicians must administer both surgical and medical (use of a pill) abortions, resulting in three clinics closing.

Joyce states that if similar restrictions continue to crop up in states, visualizing the states performing services on a map will look like much like the blue/red states associated with political parties:

Services will be readily available in coastal blue states, whereas women in the country’s vast middle will have to travel large distances for access. To illustrate the importance of travel distance as a determinant of whether a woman obtains an abortion, consider abortion rates just before Roe v. Wade. In 1971–1972, abortion was effectively legal in five states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, New York, and Washington. In 1971–1972, there were 27,793 abortions performed in New York in residents of Illinois, an annual rate of 5.9 abortions per 1,000 female Illinois residents 15 to 44 years of age — but the rate of abortions performed in New York in Connecticut residents was almost twice as high, 10.3 per 1,000, and the rate among New Jersey residents was more than 2.5 times as high, 15.2 per 1,000.

Restrictions on Abortion Providers in Some States Making Access to Abortions More Difficult

Number of Abortions Performed in Residents of Texas, before and after 16 Weeks of Gestation, in and outside Texas, 2001–2006. (Image: Coleman and Joyce)

Joyce writes that he believes that making abortions more difficult to receive based on restrictions to clinics will revive the unsafe abortions being conduction pre-Roe vs. Wade and advocates for prevention of unwanted pregnancies to reduce abortion rates.

[H/T NPR]

Comments (12)

  • Steev
    Posted on October 22, 2011 at 12:54pm

    I’m a pro – choice’er what a women decides to do with her body is ALL on her, i believe GOD is going to make her pay and pay dearly for her “ life defeating ” activities. Oh, she can justify and rationalize it anyway she want’s but SHE is in control of her actions – and if she gets an abortion doctor to do the procedure she’s just dragging somone else down with her, ( which is kinda sad cause, i guess she derives some sort of peace from the fact that someone else did the actual deed ) but they will only incur GODS wrath too and it won’t diminish GODS anger for her.

    Report Post » Steev  
  • suz
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 6:54pm

    it won’t lead to fewer abortions. women will get them anyway at the risk of their own life. look at your history folks.

    Report Post » suz  
  • vtconsv
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 5:24pm

    With all the contraception devices on the market why is Abortion not Illegal. the Left ‘s Blood lust for babies is really sickening to me.
    With the Exception of Rape, Incyst or a life threatening Illness Abortion is Murder.

    Report Post » vtconsv  
  • SCARY
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 11:30am

    You nailed it,JROOK.Excellent argument.

    Report Post »  
  • JRook
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 10:35am

    Either side of any political argument loose their ethical footing and moral standing when they rely on legislative tricks and political games to achieve their desired end. Tough concept, but the government is charged with representing and protecting the liberty and privacy of all citizens. Which means they can make choices regarding their reproductive rights within the framework of Roe v. Wade. With the problems facing this country it is absurd to have legislatures waste time on this type of gamesmanship.

    Report Post »  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on October 21, 2011 at 11:55am

      Hey Rook,

      Just curious, what is your position on obamacare.
      Serious question.
      Are you glad it passed, or not?
      No equivocations , yes or no.

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
    • Abysmal
      Posted on October 21, 2011 at 6:24pm

      @Jrook

      Your argument is well-stated and appreciated! Bravo!

      Report Post » Abysmal  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on October 21, 2011 at 8:54pm

      @Abynormal (In reference to your other postings)

      Things begin at the beginning. That‘s why it’s called the beginning.

      Artificial intelligence? I guess you would know.

      When they are able to create something artificial that is smarter than you, which will not be too difficult, it still will not be “LIFE”

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
  • diablosho
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 9:52am

    One can only hope that the unsafe abortions come back. I would love NOTHING more than to see murderous mothers dieing at their own hands so they can explain to God what they have done. Abortion is a nasty scar on America that makes even Slavery pale in comparison.

    Report Post »  
  • hightide
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 9:29am

    No tax payer money for the generational genocide. I do not support the murder of innocent babies and can’t understand how anyone can. Shut down all abortion mills. It is more than a choice, it is a life.

    Report Post »  
  • beekeeper
    Posted on October 21, 2011 at 7:12am

    So the argument is that by imposing stricter health standards to improve the care for the woman having the abortions, fewer abortions will occur? Seems to me, going back to Roe v. Wade, the argument for legalizing abortion was to make abortions safe, to keep women from dying after botched back alley abortions. Are ‘pro-choice’ advocates now arguing we are trying to make the women/patients too safe, that the real goal is the number of abortions performed?

    Report Post » beekeeper  
  • CottonMPG
    Posted on October 20, 2011 at 11:25pm

    I see education and moral upbringing as the ultimate solution to abortion. I won‘t be happy until our government recognizes and upholds every human being’s right to not be murdered regardless of their level of development. I see this as a step in the right direction though. It is an encouraging action.

    Report Post » CottonMPG  

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