The study reviewed abortion rates in the state of Massachusetts since the introduction of Commonwealth Care. Among those with incomes below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, the percentage uninsured fell from 24 percent to eight percent, a material reduction. Massachusetts provides abortion coverage in its Medicaid program, and in the Commonwealth Care program which is available to cover those with incomes above the Medicaid eligibility threshold.
The data, which are available for only the first two years of this new program, show a modest decline in the number of abortions. Abortions in Massachusetts fell 1.5 percent during the two year period. Abortions among teenagers declined 7.4 percent during the period, and it is this age group which might be the most likely to see options, other than abortion, when health coverage is available. (See comments of Cardinal Basil Hume, here.) All of these events occurred during a period of modest declines in the abortion rate, and in a period of rising birth rates in Massachusetts among women aged 15 to 44.
Patrick Whelan, M.D., Ph.D., the study's author concludes by writing:
I believe it is reasonable to conclude that the possibility of some federal subsidization of overall care, for a fraction of the additional 31 million people who would be covered, would not mean a significant or even a likely increase in the number of abortions performed nationally.FMHC7Z8Z7UX6
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