The Impact of Abortion Policy on Patient Safety: How Is It Measured?

In 1973, the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade established the constitutional right to abortion, but since 2010, the number of abortion laws has increased significantly. The impact of those laws on society has been conceptualized and evaluated in a variety of ways, but their impact on patient health remains obscure. The purpose of this research is to examine measures that could be used to evaluate the impact of abortion policy on patient safety. The methodology used in this project was Bardach’s “eight-fold path” for conducting a policy analysis. A literature review was performed to identify measures from 20 studies evaluating the association between abortion policy and patient safety. Four common measures were identified: abortion fatality rate, abortion rate, unintended pregnancy/birth rate, and delay in abortion timing. Each measure was systemically evaluated based on two criteria: (1) relevance and validity as a measure of patient safety and (2) convenience. The most relevant and valid measure was delay in abortion timing. While collecting data about abortion timing is inconvenient and costly, it may be worthwhile as long as the concept of “safety” is prominent in the political discourse around abortion and valid evidence for policy-making is desired. The first step toward evidence-based public policy is ensuring the use of valid, relevant measures.Bachelor of Scienc