Religion and abortion: The role of politician identity

Debates around abortion typically invoke religion and politics but there is no causal evidence of the impact of politician religion on abortion. Leveraging quasi-random variation in politician religion generated by close elections in India and controlling for the party affiliation of politicians, we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of development economics 2021-11, Vol.153, p.102746, Article 102746
Main Authors: Bhalotra, Sonia, Clots-Figueras, Irma, Iyer, Lakshmi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Gender
India
Politician identity
Religion
Sex-selection
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Summary:Debates around abortion typically invoke religion and politics but there is no causal evidence of the impact of politician religion on abortion. Leveraging quasi-random variation in politician religion generated by close elections in India and controlling for the party affiliation of politicians, we find lower rates of sex-selective abortion in districts won by Muslim state legislators, consistent with a higher reported aversion to abortion among Muslims compared to Hindus. The competing hypothesis that this reflects weaker son preference among Muslims is undermined by stated preference data and by demonstrating that fertility and girl-biased infant mortality increase in Muslim-won districts. •We examine the role of politicians' religious identity on abortion outcomes in India.•Muslims have similar levels of son preference but oppose abortion more than Hindus.•Muslim legislator presence results in lower sex-selective abortion.•We find no evidence that Muslim legislators change preferences towards women.
ISSN:0304-3878
1872-6089
DOI:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102746