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The effect of abortion legalization on child and maternal health in Mexico City

Castillo Betancourt, Tatiana LU (2017) EKHM52 20171
Department of Economic History
Abstract
In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live... (More)
In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live births. These results are validated by the use of a more accurate control group generated by the Synthetic Control Method.
To the best of my knowledge, this if the first paper that attempts to examine the effects of abortion legalization in Mexico City on child health. (Less)
Popular Abstract
In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live... (More)
In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live births. These results are validated by the use of a more accurate control group generated by the Synthetic Control Method.
To the best of my knowledge, this if the first paper that attempts to examine the effects of abortion legalization in Mexico City on child health. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Castillo Betancourt, Tatiana LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHM52 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Abortion legislation, Mexico, Infant Health, Maternal Health.
language
English
id
8916829
date added to LUP
2017-06-29 13:41:11
date last changed
2017-06-29 13:41:11
@misc{8916829,
  abstract     = {{In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live births. These results are validated by the use of a more accurate control group generated by the Synthetic Control Method. 
To the best of my knowledge, this if the first paper that attempts to examine the effects of abortion legalization in Mexico City on child health.}},
  author       = {{Castillo Betancourt, Tatiana}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The effect of abortion legalization on child and maternal health in Mexico City}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}