Assessing Plan B: The Effect of the Morning After Pill on Children and Women
利用智利2008年政策改革，研究发现紧急避孕药在禁止堕胎的国家能减少怀孕和早期胎儿死亡，效果约为其他地区堕胎改革的三分之一。
We test whether the availability of the emergency contraceptive (‘morning after’) pill in the absence of legalised abortion can have effects similar to those of other large‐scale contraceptive reforms. To do so, we examine a quasi‐experimental policy reform occurring in Chile in 2008. Using vital statistics covering all births and foetal deaths over the period 2006–12, we show that the availability of the emergency contraceptive pill reduces pregnancy and early gestation foetal death, which we argue proxies for illegal abortion. Our results suggest that in the context of Chile, a country with among the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, the emergency contraceptive pill had effects around a third as large as various abortion reforms observed in other contexts.