In 1973, the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade stated that the “right to privacy … founded on the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty .. is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” The decision maintained that during the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman and her practitioner have the right to terminate the pregnancy through abortion without legal restrictions. It allowed individual states to set conditions for second-trimester abortions. ThirdÂtrimester abortions were ruled illegal unless the mother’s life or health was in danger.
In July 1989, in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, the Supreme Court, by a vote of five to four, gave states the right to impose certain new restrictions on abortions. This decision, along with three subsequent rulings, paved the way for individual state interpretations of abortion acceptability. In recent years, strict abortion laws have been proposed in many states. There is intense political debate as abortion opponents put pressure on state and local governments to pass laws prohibiting the use of public funds for abortion as well as for abortion counseling. Abortions cannot be performed in publicly funded clinics in some states, and other states have laws requiring parental notification before a teenager can obtain an abortion. Although Roe v. Wade has not been overturned, it faces many future challenges.
Prior to the legalization of first and second-trimester abortions, women wishing to terminate a pregnancy had to travel to a country where the procedure was legal, consult an illegal abortionist, or perform their own abortions. The last two methods led to death from hemorrhage or infection in some cases and to infertility from internal scarring in others.
Before the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, approximately 480,000 illegal abortions were performed in the United States each year, one-third of them on married women. Since the 1973 decision, the law has been continually challenged by groups that are convinced that the termination of a pregnancy is murder. Those who oppose abortion believe that the embryo or fetus is a human being with rights that must be protected. Although many opponents work through the courts and the political process, attacks on abortion clinics and on doctors who perform abortions are increasingly common. Nearly all clinics have faced some form of violent threats or acts of violence. Recent legal changes, such as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance Act (FACE), offer some relief to the harassment and violence directed at abortion clinics. However, because of such acts, the biggest threat to a woman’s access to an abortion now is the clinical supply rather than legal restrictions.
More than 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States every year, representing almost a fourth of all pregnancies. It is estimated that 3 of every 100 American women will have had one abortion by the age of 44. About one half of all abortions are performed because of failed contraception; the others occur in the 9 percent of sexually active women who do not use birth control. The majority of abortions, 90 percent, are performed within 12 weeks of fertilization; only 2 of every 1,000 are performed more than 20 weeks after fertilization.
The best birth control methods can fail. Women may be raped. Pregnancies can occur despite every possible precaution. When an unwanted pregnancy does occur, the decision whether to terminate, to carry to term and keep the baby, or to carry to term and give the baby away must be made. This is a personal decision to be made by each woman based on her personal beliefs, values, and resources after careful consideration of all alternatives.