What happens to birth control if the Affordable Care Act is repealed?
Boston Globe
June 30, 2017
Romneycare family values
If Republicans “repeal and replace” Obamacare with something less generous, there may be unintended consequences. A study found that Massachusetts health reform (which was a model for Obamacare) increased the birth rate among married women ages 20 to 34 in Massachusetts by around 1 percent, as births became more affordable. Meanwhile, the birth rate among unmarried women of the same age group decreased by around 8 percent, as contraception became more affordable. In other words, relatively more babies were born in wedlock than out of it.
Apostolova-Mihaylova, M. & Yelowitz, A., “Health Insurance, Fertility, and the Wantedness of Pregnancies: Evidence from Massachusetts,” Contemporary Economic Policy (forthcoming).