This paper investigates the effect of the supply of birth control methods
on fertility behavior by exploring the effects of Romaniaís 23-year period of continued
pronatalist policies. Between 1957 and 1966 Romania had a very liberal
abortion policy, and abortion was the main method of contraception. In 1966,
the Romanian government abruptly made abortion and family planning illegal.
This policy was sustained until December 1989 with only minor modifications.
The implementation and repeal of the restrictive regime provide a useful and
plausibly exogenous source of variation in the cost of birth control methods that
is arguably orthogonal to the demand for children.
Women who spent most of their reproductive years under the restrictive
regime experienced large increases in fertility (about 0.5 children or a 25% increase).
Less educated women had bigger increases in fertility after policy implementation
and larger fertility decreases following the lifting of restrictions in
1989, when fertility differentials between educational groups decreased by almost
fifty percent. These findings strongly suggest that access to abortion and birth
control are quantitatively significant determinants of fertility levels, particularly
for less educated women.