Structural determinants of the abortion rate: a cross-societal analysis

Data for a sample of 89 countries are used to examine societal-level predictors of the legal status of abortion and its incidence as indicated by abortion rates. Measures of socioeconomic development, women's labor force participation, and dominant religion are considered as predictors of abortion. Logistic regression analysis reveals that socioeconomic development has a positive effect on the probability of abortion being legal. Both a greater dominance of Catholicism and Islam in a society reduce the probability that abortion is legal. Results of tobit analyses show that development has curvilinear effects on abortion rates, with lower rates of abortion at both the lower and higher ends of development. Findings also indicate a positive effect of female labor force participation on the abortion rate that initially grows stronger with increases in socioeconomic development, but weakens with further increases. Finally, a greater proportion of Catholics in a population lowers the abortion rate.