The Supreme Court and Social Change: The Case of Abortion

The primary purpose of the article is to examine the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's abortion decisions upon hospital policies in a major metropolitan area in the United States. In assessing the effect of the Roe and Doe rulings, the study tries to identify which variables are associated with the hospitals' abortion policies before the Court rulings, the hospitals' post-Roe and Doe policies, and which factors best explain the change from one time period to another. The study also emphasizes an important but often overlooked function of the U.S. Supreme Court, viz., as a stimulator of social change in America. The primary theoretical significance of the article is its attempt to suggest a model for Supreme Court policy impact.