Access to the Emergency Contraceptive Pill and Women's Reproductive Health: Evidence From Public Reform in Chile
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Date
2021
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Volume Title
Publisher
DUKE UNIV PRESS
Abstract
We exam ine the sharp expan sion in avail abil ity of the emer gency con tra- cep tive pill in Chile fol low ing legal ized access through munic i pal pub lic health care cen ters. We study the period 2002-2016 and a broad roll out of the emer gency con tra- cep tive pill occur ring between 2008 and 2011. By com bin ing a num ber of admin is tra- tive data sets on health out comes and phar ma ceu ti cal use, and using event -study and difference-in -differences methods, we document that this expansion improved certain clas ses of women's repro duc tive health out comes, nota bly reduc ing rates of abor tion- related mor bid ity. These improve ments were greater in areas of the coun try where the roll out of the emer gency con tra cep tive pill was more exten sive. We also doc u ment some evi dence that refusal to pro vide the emer gency con tra cep tive pill upon a women's request was linked with a wors en ing in repro duc tive health out comes. These results point to the impor tance of con tra cep tive access as a deter mi nant of women's repro- duc tive health and well-being and relates to a grow ing body of work documenting the impor tance of women's auton omy as a deter mi nant of health.
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Keywords
Emergency contraceptives, Maternal morbidity, Abortion, Event studies, Public health