Births increase among Hispanic and young women since Dobbs decision
Findings may be unsurprising on the surface, but the reasons behind it may be an argument for abortion access
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a new study indicates that the number of births in abortion-restrictive states has increased since Roe was overturned.
The Institute of Labor Economics published a research paper called The Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility, which Daniel Dench, Mayra Pineda-Torres, and Caitlin Myers wrote. The key finding was that states with abortion bans experienced an average increase in births of 2.3 percent relative to states where abortion was not restricted.
“These effects vary across demographic groups and tend to be larger for younger women and women of color,” they wrote. “These effects also vary substantially across ban states, with much larger effects observed in states that are bordered by other ban states and hence have long travel distances to reach facilities that remain open
They primarily relied on CDC Wonder data (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2022, 2023), accessed on November 6, 2023, for monthly births by state of residence covering the period January 2005 through June 2023.
The authors began the study by saying that they believed abortion bans would exacerbate economic inequality by forcing women to carry abortions to term. They cite historical evidence that the feminist victories of the 1960s and 1970s prevented shotgun marriages and permitted women to attain higher educational levels. That permitted more significant income in their lives.
Some of those victories were irreversible, according to the authors.
“While Dobbs rewinds the country to the pre-Roe regulatory environment, there are reasons to think that we may not watch these fertility and economic effects play in reverse,” they said. “Whereas pre-Roe abortion had only been legalized in a handful of states, post-Dobbs, abortions remain legal in most circumstances in 30 states and the District of Columbia.”
The increased fertility rates were felt most among Hispanic women, who increased by 4.7 percent after Dobbs. The other group mainly affected was 20 to 24-year-old women, who saw rates rise 3.3 percent. Mississippi and Texas saw the most significant increases among the states.