Date of Award
Spring 5-3-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Dr. Partha Deb
Second Advisor
Dr. Jessica Van Parys
Academic Program Adviser
Dr. Karna Basu
Abstract
Eleven states require women seeking abortions to undergo mandated ultrasounds prior to the procedure while twenty-four states require women to wait either 24, 48 or 72 hours between receiving state mandated counseling and the procedure. I examine the effects of abortion restrictions on health behaviors and health care of women. I apply staggered difference-in-differences to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate the causal effects of the two-trip mandatory waiting period (MWP) law and mandatory ultrasounds (MUS) law on women’s mental health, use of alcohol and tobacco, and whether women are obtaining routine mammograms and pap smears. The results indicate that MWPs increase mental distress and alco- hol consumption by approximately 2 and 2.5 days in a month, respectively. MWP also increases the probability that a woman smokes by 0.8%. MUS decreases the probability that women obtain mammograms and pap smears by 0.7% and 2.4%, respectively. These effects are also large for minorities and young women.
Recommended Citation
Sooklall, Reesa, "The Effects of Pre-Abortion Restrictions on Women's Well-Being" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1192