Did The Regulation of Abortion Affect Stability of Marriage? The Effect of State Abortion Restrictions on Marital Dissolution

Abstract I estimate the effects of abortion restrictions from gestational limits, parental involvement for minors, and length of mandated waiting period on state divorce rate and change of marital status for individual to test whether the abortion regulation affects stability of marriage. From the state-level analysis, I found liberalized abortion restrictions are associated with higher state divorce rates. From the individual-level analysis, the effect only appears to be significant for younger groups and is the opposite direction of implication when compared to the state-level analysis. Furthermore, a new insight from the individual-level analysis suggests that additional abortion restrictions might stress younger couples and therefore increase their risks of divorce, even if some of the policies do not directly apply to them. Moreover, this paper also shows that having more children tends to strengthen the stability of marriage and reduces the risk of divorce, which is consistent with previous studies, as well as presenting additional supportive evidence. JEL classification: J12, K36