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Pre-Roe: When Abortion was Illegal
Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion was illegal in the
U.S. with the exception of four states - New York, Colorado,
California, and North Carolina - and only under very limited
circumstances, such as life endangerment. Women who wanted
to terminate their pregnancy often sought illegal, back-alley
abortions.
More About the Abortion Rights Movement
It is estimated that before 1973, 1.2 million women resorted
to illegal abortion yearly and that botched illegal abortions
caused as many as 5,000 deaths a year (NARAL).
During this period, illegal abortions were often performed
by an untrained physician in unsanitary conditions
using primitive methods (NAF).
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Roe v. Wade: The Court Case
On January 22, 1973, the landmark
U. S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade legalized
abortion in the United States.
Argued by attorney Sarah Weddington, Roe v. Wade challenged
the constitutionality of a Texas law that prohibited abortion
except to save a woman's life.
In a 7-2 ruling, the court ruled that the right to privacy
extended to a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her
pregnancy. |
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Post-Roe: When Abortion is Legal
The legalization of abortion led to a dramatic decline
in deaths from back-alley, illegal abortions.
Today, complications from abortions occur in less than 1%
of cases, and a woman is statistically less likely to experience
complications from an abortion than from a penicillin shot
(Allen Guttmacher Institute).
In the United States, 1.4 million women have abortions
each year (AGI). 89% of these abortions occur before twelve
weeks and fewer than 1% occur after 21 weeks.
In September 2000, the FDA approved RU 486, dramatically
improving women's access to safe
medical abortions.
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