The Undue Burden of Abortion Restrictions on Relationship Violence and Child Welfare Involvement

• In Event: Governing Gender-Based Violence: Legal Responses, Policy Innovations, and Unintended Consequences

Abstract

In its recent Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, returning abortion rights to states. Prior to this decision, states had taken myriad steps to restrict access to abortion. Following the Dobbs decision, state-level abortion decisions have led to significantly greater abortion restrictions as a result of trigger bans and other state laws. Existing evidence has found that abortion restrictions result in fewer and delayed abortions and increased births. In addition to changes in births, such policies may affect both intimate partner violence and child wellbeing through mechanisms including substantial financial strains, negative health consequences, and intra-household power dynamics. Due to substantial delays in population-based, administrative data, we know little about the effects of Dobbs and its resulting state policy decisions around abortion.  Using distance to the nearest clinic and two way fixed effects models, we investigate the effects of abortion access on both intimate partner violence (using data from the National Incident Based Reporting System) and child welfare involvement (using data from the National Child Abuse & Neglect Detection System). We utilize pre- and post-Dobbs data between 2017 and 2023, difference-in-differences, event study, and methods accounting for staggered treatment timing. We find that abortion restrictions (both distance to nearest clinic and total bans) are associated with higher rates of both IPV and child welfare involvement. Our findings provide critical insights into the broader social and health implications of abortion restrictions in post-Dobbs.

Authors

• Christine Piette Durrance, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Presenting Author

• Yang Wang
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Barbara L Wolfe
  Non-Presenting Co-Author