The Consequences of Abortion Funding Bans

In the United States, public funding restrictions prohibit the use of federal funding for abortion services. In this paper, we consider the ef- fects of these initial federal funding restrictions through the Hyde Amend- ment. We find that the federal prohibition of abortion funding raises fer- tility by two percent for young adult women in counties with high Med- icaid eligibility. The Hyde Amendment also disproportionately impacts non-white women, those more likely to be receiving Medicaid. After the Hyde Amendment, relative to white women, there is an increase in non- white hospitalizations for abortion complications, a temporary increase in nonwhite maternal mortality, and a worsening of non-white economic out- comes. Overall, federal abortion funding restrictions appear to widen health and economic racial disparities.