January 22:

1973 : Supreme Court legalizes abortion

In a historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules
in Roe v. Wade that women, as part of their
constitutional right to privacy, can terminate a
pregnancy during its first two trimesters. Only during
the last trimester, when the fetus can survive outside
the womb, would states be permitted to regulate
abortion of a healthy pregnancy.

The controversial ruling, essentially reversing a
century of anti-abortion legislation in the United States,
was the result of a call by many American
women for control over their own reproductive
processes. Although defended by the Supreme Court on
several occasions, the legalization of abortion became
a divisive and intensely emotional public issue. The
debate intensified during the 1980s, and both
pro-choice and pro-life organizations strengthened
their membership and political influence.

Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush
used their executive authority to legislate abortion
clinic guidelines that restricted free practice of the
procedure. However, in 1986, and again in 1989 and
1992, the Supreme Court narrowly reaffirmed the
decision, and in 1993 President Bill Clinton, a
Democrat, overturned his predecessors' anti-abortion
legislation within days of taking office. In the
1990s, opponents of abortion rights increasingly
turned to violent methods in their campaign to make
abortion illegal again.

In 2005, the retirement of Supreme Court justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, who though conservative had
helped block efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, led to
fears that the historic legislation might be
vulnerable to reversal.

history.com/tdih.do