THE SUPREME COURT'S ABORTION RULINGS AND SOCIAL CHANGE.

This article examines the effect of the Supreme Court's abortion rulings on hospital abortion policies in Texas. Broadening impact theory necessarily entails study of the effects of the court's actions when, in the process of invalidating laws and redefining rights, it opens the floodgates to new developments in the private social and economic sectors. In this view, the court is seen as a catalyst for social change in that it removes obstacles to innovation. While this theme is mentioned in both the general court literature and the impact literature, there are no systematic empirical studies which map the broader parameters of possible impact. An opportunity to analyze this broader and more indirect type of impact was provided by the Supreme Court's abortion decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973. In the post Roe period, the analysis showed a strong shift toward liberalized abortion policies. Hospital resources and decision-makers' attitudes toward the Roe decision were most predictive of policy innovation in the post-Roe period. The opinion of the court variable and the opinion of the Roe decision were shown to be independently related to and predictive of policy impact. It is not unwarranted to conclude that the Roe decision opened the floodgate of social change.