Research

I study physician location decisions in the aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson (2022) decision, which led to abortion bans in many states. I link panel data on physician locations to political campaign contributions and estimate synthetic difference-in-differences models of the stock of providers per capita and the migratory responses of providers in states with abortion bans relative to states that protect abortion access. I find no evidence that abortion bans reduced the overall supply of obstetricians and gynecologists (OBGYNs). Despite stable aggregate supply, the composition of the OBGYN workforce shifts sharply. Democratic OBGYNs become about 39 percent more likely to leave ban states, while Republican OBGYNs become less likely to leave these states. By mid-2025, these differential pre–post changes contribute to an approximately 10 percent shortfall of Democratic OBGYNs in ban states relative to protected states. Gender and geographic composition also change: female OBGYNs become less likely to practice in ban states, male OBGYNs become more likely to do so, and overall rural representation declines. Finally, early-career OBGYNs are less likely to practice in ban states, consistent with a contraction in the provider pipeline. Taken together, the Dobbs decision increased the ideological and demographic polarization of the U.S. OBGYN workforce, with growing implications for access to reproductive care in rural areas of states with abortion bans.

We use voting precinct and election data to analyze the political geography of New Hampshire and Maine. We find that the location of the dividing line between Congressional districts in both states are significantly different than what we would expect, which we argue is likely due to incumbent gerrymandering. We also discuss the limitations of classical fairness measures for plans with only two districts.