The impact of state abortion policies on the abortion rate

Thesis (M.P.P.A., Public Policy and Administration)--California State University, Sacramento, 2015.This thesis examines the impact of state mandated demand- and supply-side abortion policies on the statewide abortion rate to determine which policies are most effective at lowering state abortion rates. Ordinary least squares regression was used to determine the specific impact and statistical significance of each policy on the state abortion rate, while controlling for several demographic factors identified in the literature as having an impact on a state???s abortion rate. \ud All five demand-side variables and one of the supply-side variables were found to have a statistically insignificant relationship with a state???s abortion rate. My research suggests that state abortion rates are largely unaffected by demand-side policies that restrict access to abortion resources, making these policies ineffective and inefficient. The only variable that was consistently correlated with lower abortion rates was a supply-side variable analyzing the effect of comprehensive sex education taught in public schools in lieu of abstinence-only sex education. This thesis recommends discontinuing federally and state funded abstinence-only sex education programs and switching to a comprehensive sex education curriculum.Public Policy and Administratio