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Does Parental Consent for Birth Control Affect Underage Pregnancy Rates? The Case of Texas

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  • Sourafel Girma
  • David Paton

Abstract

Previous work based on conjectural responses of minors predicted that the 2003 Texas requirement for parental consent for state-funded birth control to minors would lead to a large increase in underage pregnancies. We use state- and county-level data to test this prediction. The latter allow us to compare the impact of parental consent in counties with and without state-funded family planning clinics. We control for characteristics systematically correlated with the presence of state-funded clinics by combining difference-in-difference estimation with propensity score–weighted regressions. The evidence suggests that the parental consent mandate led to a large decrease in attendance at family planning clinics among teens but did not lead to an increase in underage pregnancies. Copyright Population Association of America 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Sourafel Girma & David Paton, 2013. "Does Parental Consent for Birth Control Affect Underage Pregnancy Rates? The Case of Texas," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(6), pages 2105-2128, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:50:y:2013:i:6:p:2105-2128
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-013-0225-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry & Diana Greene Foster, 2023. "The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 394-437, February.
    2. Joanna Venator & Jason Fletcher, 2021. "Undue Burden Beyond Texas: An Analysis of Abortion Clinic Closures, Births, and Abortions in Wisconsin," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 774-813, June.
    3. Yao Lu & David J. G. Slusky, 2019. "The Impact of Women's Health Clinic Closures on Fertility," American Journal of Health Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(3), pages 334-359, Summer.

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