Abstract
This article utilizes a multiple time series design to investigate the impact that restrictive abortion laws have had on maternal deaths in Romania. That society had an initially "liberal" law but it was reversed by a 1966 decree that greatly limited the circumstances under which a woman may have an abortion.
The research design combined with data collected from the World Health Organization suggest that it is unlikely that a post-1966 increase in the number of abortion deaths in Romania can be attributed either to the effects of history or instrumentation. Implications of this study for the American experience with abortion are discussed briefly. It would seem that in any society a restrictive abortion policy's impact on maternal death is likely to depend on the degree of "tightening."
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