Abortion Liberalization Policies around the World: Hidden Differences in the Diffusion Process

Elizabeth Boyle, University of Minnesota
Minzee Kim, University of Minnesota
Wesley Longhofer, Emory University

World Polity theorists suggest that diffusion occurs because institutional frameworks become taken-for-granted at the global level, and thus policies diffuse regardless of domestic contexts. Using an event history analysis of national abortion liberalization policies from 1960 to 2009, we hypothesize that policy diffusion is conditional on national institutional arrangements. Specifically, we hypothesize that the presence of a strong women’s movement will be associated with abortion liberalization for women who are raped, that strong states with a collectivist orientation will be associated with abortion liberalization for fetal impairment, and that medicalization will be associated with abortion liberalization to protect the mental health of the mother. The first two of these hypotheses are supported.