Abortion Rights Movement (Late 1960s-1990s)

Making the Procedure Safe
Before the advent of sophisticated medical technology in the 1960s, the abortion mortality rate was very high. In fact, abortion techniques are much safer today than in the past. Thus, states previously felt justified in regulating abortion due to the life-threatening nature of the abortion procedure (Blanchard 17-18).

By 1970, however, this argument had lost its legitimacy. Still, by 1972 therapeutic abortion was only legal in four states: New York, Colorado, California, and North Carolina, with various combinations of restrictions such as:

1. Approval by a panel of doctors

2. Approval of a psychiatrist

3. A state residency requirement for the woman (usually six months)

4. Parental or spousal consent

5. State-sanctioned "informed" consent (Blanchard 16).

Today, the risk of complication from an abortion in the first trimester is considerably less than a woman faces giving birth. In fact "[a]bortion is safer than taking an injection of penicillin," according to Dr. David Grimes (Abortion for Survival 7). Abortion today is the most common invasive surgical procedure in the United States.

Sherri Finkbine
Sherri Finkbine of "Romper Room", one of the leading children's television shows, was a T.V. personality in the 1960s. During the second month of Finkbine's pregnancy, she ingested thalidomide, a sedative known to cause fetal deformities. Finkbine decided to have an abortion and even obtained the mandatory doctor and hospital approvals. Unfortunately, both parties subsequently relinquished their support due to the mass of publicity surrounding the case. Furthermore, the law in her home state of Arizona stipulated that abortions could only be performed if the pregnancy threatened the life of the woman. Eventually, Finkbine obtained an abortion in Sweden. Her situation propelled the abortion debate to the national forefront (Blanchard 22-3).

Model Penal Code Law (German Measles)
In 1964, German measles, or rubella, swept the United States. This epidemic was a great concern for pregnant women because of the risk of birth defects associated with rubella. Subsequently, there was a surge in demand for abortions, and "the disparity between their actual practices and the state laws governing them led some doctors to begin pressuring state legislatures for change" (Blanchard 23). In 1959, the American Law Institute revised the abortion section of the Model Penal Code, "which became the model for most of the state revisions in the late 1960s" (Blanchard 23). Although still mandating the approval of two doctors, this model law permitted abortions in instances where the woman's life or mental health was endangered, when pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, and when fetal deformities were present.