Effect of Emergency Contraception on the Maternal Morbidity of Adolescents in Chile

Damian Clarke, Universidad de Santiago
Viviana Salinas , Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

In this study we examine the impact of the availability of the emergency contraceptive (EC) pill on maternal health outcomes of adolescents in Chile. We focus on the roll-out of the EC pill in the country between 2008 and 2011, taking advantage of the unique features of EC provision in Chile in this period. We argue that the variation in time- and municipal-availability of the EC pill provide an ideal set-up for the identification of the causal effects of the contraceptive technology on women’s health. We focus on two particular indicators of maternal health: abortion-related morbidity and hemorrhage in early pregnancy. Complementarily, we consider other health issues during pregnancy: hypertensive disorders and diabetes. We estimate difference-in-difference models, using municipal variation in EC pill availability, and high-quality micro-level administrative data capturing all-cases of morbidity in the country between 2001 and 2016.

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 Presented in Session 85. Adolescent Fertility and Contraceptive Use