Date of Award

Spring 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)

Department

Public Policy and Administration

Committee Chairperson

Michelle Wade, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Joan Woolfrey, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kristen B. Crossney, Ph.D

Abstract

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) decided to reject federal family planning funds when faced with a “gag rule” that would prevent PPFA from providing abortion services. The economic theory of scarcity and everyday human experience teach that a reduction in available resources or means will necessarily impact the ends to which those means are expended. This dissertation tests the prediction of economic theory that a reduction in available means results in a sacrifice in given ends, like a paycheck reduction might result in less food on a family dinner table. Planned Parenthood’s behavior is examined in light of this economic theory and ubiquitous human experience. The dissertation reviews existing scholarship and the consistent findings that abortion rates do not decline following enactment of restrictive reproductive health policies and that, other than income levels, there is no demographic predictor of persons receiving abortion services. Previous studies consistently show that access to contraception reduces abortion rates more reliably than another action, policy, or law. To assess PPFA’s behavior here, this dissertation conducts an interrupted time series analysis, ARIMA, to determine any relationship between Planned Parenthood’s rejection of federal family planning funding and the number of abortion procedures performed. The dissertation concludes that there is no significant relationship between PPFA’s rejection of family planning funds and abortion services performed, and that data show Planned Parenthood’s revenue increased after the organization rejected those federal funds. It concludes with suggestions for ongoing research.

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