Examining the Effects of Contraceptive Mandates on the Black-White Birth Gap

Between 1995 and 2007, 25 states extended family planning services to include free access to contraceptives for women under health insurance. Then the Affordable Care Act under President Obama included a contraceptive mandate... [ view full abstract ]

Between 1995 and 2007, 25 states extended family planning services to include free access to contraceptives for women under health insurance. Then the Affordable Care Act under President Obama included a contraceptive mandate that allowed free contraceptives across the United States. Research has shown that these health policies have resulted in decreasing birth rates on the national level but not much has been researched about differential access and birth rates by race. 

There is evidence of a birth rate difference amongst races. More prominently, there is a birth rate difference amongst teenagers of different races. Evidence shows that birth rates for black and hispanic teenagers are double than those of their white non-hispanic counterparts. Furthermore, these unplanned pregnancies perpetuate a cycle of poverty, limiting young mothers who are unable to continue their education or have to take time off work. Using a difference-in-difference empirical model, this paper estimates how access to contraceptives changed birth rates in the U.S. between 1995 and 2015. By looking at the birth gaps amongst women of different races, we can better see who benefits from these policies, and who will lose the most when this access is taken away.