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The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes

BACKGROUND: Although abortion is a common gynecological procedure around the globe, we lack synthesis of the known macroeconomic costs and outcomes of abortion care and abortion policies. This scoping review synthesizes the literature on the impact of abortion-related care and abortion policies on e...

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Autores principales: Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen, Coast, Ernestina, Lattof, Samantha R., Poss, Cheri, Moore, Brittany
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8101771/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33956826
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250692
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author Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen
Coast, Ernestina
Lattof, Samantha R.
Poss, Cheri
Moore, Brittany
author_facet Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen
Coast, Ernestina
Lattof, Samantha R.
Poss, Cheri
Moore, Brittany
author_sort Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Although abortion is a common gynecological procedure around the globe, we lack synthesis of the known macroeconomic costs and outcomes of abortion care and abortion policies. This scoping review synthesizes the literature on the impact of abortion-related care and abortion policies on economic outcomes at the macroeconomic level (that is, for societies and nation states). METHODS AND FINDINGS: Searches were conducted in eight electronic databases. We conducted the searches and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews. For inclusion, studies must have examined one of the following macroeconomic outcomes: costs, impacts, benefits, and/or value of abortion care or abortion policies. Quantitative and qualitative data were extracted for descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Of the 189 data extractions with macroeconomic evidence, costs at the national level are the most frequently reported economic outcome (n = 97), followed by impacts (n = 66), and benefits/value (n = 26). Findings show that post-abortion care services can constitute a substantial portion of national expenditures on health. Public sector coverage of abortion costs is sparse, and individuals bear most of the costs. Evidence also indicates that liberalizing abortion laws can have positive spillover effects for women’s educational attainment and labor supply, and that access to abortion services contributes to improvements in children’s human capital. However, the political economy around abortion legislation remains complicated and controversial. CONCLUSIONS: Given the highly charged political nature of abortion around the global and the preponderance of rhetoric that can cloud reality in policy dialogues, it is imperative that social science researchers build the evidence base on the macroeconomic outcomes of abortion services and regulations.
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spelling pubmed-81017712021-05-17 The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen Coast, Ernestina Lattof, Samantha R. Poss, Cheri Moore, Brittany PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Although abortion is a common gynecological procedure around the globe, we lack synthesis of the known macroeconomic costs and outcomes of abortion care and abortion policies. This scoping review synthesizes the literature on the impact of abortion-related care and abortion policies on economic outcomes at the macroeconomic level (that is, for societies and nation states). METHODS AND FINDINGS: Searches were conducted in eight electronic databases. We conducted the searches and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews. For inclusion, studies must have examined one of the following macroeconomic outcomes: costs, impacts, benefits, and/or value of abortion care or abortion policies. Quantitative and qualitative data were extracted for descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Of the 189 data extractions with macroeconomic evidence, costs at the national level are the most frequently reported economic outcome (n = 97), followed by impacts (n = 66), and benefits/value (n = 26). Findings show that post-abortion care services can constitute a substantial portion of national expenditures on health. Public sector coverage of abortion costs is sparse, and individuals bear most of the costs. Evidence also indicates that liberalizing abortion laws can have positive spillover effects for women’s educational attainment and labor supply, and that access to abortion services contributes to improvements in children’s human capital. However, the political economy around abortion legislation remains complicated and controversial. CONCLUSIONS: Given the highly charged political nature of abortion around the global and the preponderance of rhetoric that can cloud reality in policy dialogues, it is imperative that social science researchers build the evidence base on the macroeconomic outcomes of abortion services and regulations. Public Library of Science 2021-05-06 /pmc/articles/PMC8101771/ /pubmed/33956826 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250692 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication.
spellingShingle Research Article
Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen
Coast, Ernestina
Lattof, Samantha R.
Poss, Cheri
Moore, Brittany
The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
title The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
title_full The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
title_fullStr The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
title_full_unstemmed The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
title_short The macroeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
title_sort macroeconomics of abortion: a scoping review and analysis of the costs and outcomes
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8101771/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33956826
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250692
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