State By State: How Representation Affects Abortion Policy Burns, Molly State LegislaturesAbortion PolicyRaceGenderRepresentationState DemographicsPolitical ScienceB SSince the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, the policies governing abortion have varied widely by state. States can enact a wide range of possible restrictions. This work seeks to determine what accounts for those inter-state variations by analyzing the effects of state legislature characteristics and state population demographics on the restrictiveness of a state’s abortion policy. The restrictiveness of the abortion policy is measured on a scale of 1-7, based on 7 possible abortion restrictions: “partial-birth” abortion bans, public funding restrictions, limitations on insurance coverage, parental involvement, mandated counseling, waiting periods, and TRAP laws. The key findings of this paper highlight the importance of women’s, specifically Democratic women’s, representation in the state legislature and its effect on producing less restrictive abortion policy in a state. Susan Welch, Thesis SupervisorMatthew Richard Golder, Thesis Honors Advisoropen_access2020-04-01T13:34:51Zhttps://honors.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/6515meb6022