Browsing by Subject "Abortion"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Exploration of Multiple Perceived Obstacles to Abortion Access for Women in North Carolina
    (2019-12-06) Jaffe, Stephanie
    Existing research shows that legislation such as mandatory waiting periods, restriction of federal funding to pay for abortion services, and regulations causing clinic closures can make it more difficult for women to get an abortion. In 2019, North Carolina was one of the 29 states in the US considered to be extremely hostile to abortion rights based on legislative abortion restrictions, and in 2014, 90% of women in North Carolina had no clinics that provided abortions in their counties. Thus, women in North Carolina are likely to experience many challenges in attaining abortions. This qualitative study of multiple obstacles to abortion among a sample of women in North Carolina adds to existing literature on the impact of obstacles to accessing abortion by assessing the cumulative effect of multiple obstacles on women’s perceptions of obtaining an abortion. I collected survey data and conducted qualitative interviews with women in North Carolina who had recently received an abortion and analyzed this data to find four key themes in women’s experiences: cost obstacles, logistical obstacles, access to information, and personal/emotional obstacles. These themes reveal that multiple obstacles experienced at once interact to influence women’s perceptions of their experiences in getting abortions, and that these experiences vary based on external factors, such as income, profession, upbringing, and support networks. This research demonstrates the importance of highlighting women’s narratives when advocating changes in abortion policy.
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    Family Formation and Equilibrium Influences
    (2009) Beauchamp, Andrew W.

    This dissertation considers incentives arising from equilibrium influences that affect the sequence of decisions that lead to family formation. The first chapter examines how state regulations directly aimed at abortion providers affect the market for abortion in the United States. Estimates from a dynamic model of competition among abortion providers show that regulations' main impact is on the fixed costs of entry for providers. Simulations indicate that the removal of regulations would promote entry and competition among abortion providers, and because abortions are found to be price sensitive, this would lead to increases in the number of abortions observed. The second chapter tests if an important negative externality of abortion access exists, namely whether abortion access makes prospective fathers more likely to leave pregnant women. Designing a number of empirical tests, I confirm that in some areas where abortion is more accessible women who give birth are more likely to be single mothers, rather than sharing parental responsibility with the biological father. The final chapter, which is joint work with Peter Arcidiacono and Marjorie McElroy, examines how gender ratios influence bargaining power in romantic relationships between men and women. Gender ratios, by influencing the prospects of matching, allow us to estimate preferences for various match characteristics and activities. We find men prefer sexual relationships more than women at high school ages, and that men and women trade off their preferred partner for an increased chance of matching.

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    The Pro-Choice Republican's Political Right to Life
    (2016-02-01) Bender, Sarah
    Abortion has evolved into a highly partisan issue that now defines both the Republican and Democratic parties. Though it remains a salient political issue, it is unclear how abortion affects vote choice in contemporary elections. This thesis examines the relationship between state legislative candidates’ abortion positions and their electoral outcomes. Specifically, it examines whether candidates who deviate from their national political party’s abortion position – pro-choice Republicans and pro-life Democrats – have better or worse electoral outcomes than those who do not. Using data from the 2012 and 2014 National Candidate Studies (n = 1,907; 1,869), I constructed a series of multiple logistic regression models to determine how candidates’ abortion beliefs impacted their electoral outcomes at both the primary and general election levels for those years. I also interviewed a number of relevant political actors in order to better understand and contextualize my quantitative analysis. Though the regression results were somewhat inconsistent, my findings indicated that abortion does have some effect on vote choice, particularly at the primary level. These results suggest that candidates who deviate from their national party’s abortion position are somewhat less likely to be elected.