Safe abortion was rarely an option prior to 1973. Beforehand, abortion had been illegal or highly restrictive across the United States. Due to the inaccessibility of legal abortion by medical professionals, women resorted to illegal or unsafe abortion procedures to terminate a pregnancy. On behalf of the plaintiff, Norma Leah McCorvey Nelson, lawyers Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington filed a lawsuit in 1970 that was accepted by the Supreme Court for observation. Following three years of trials, women triumphed in the ruling of the Supreme Court to legislate Roe v. Wade. Prior to 1973, a fraction of the 200,000 to 1,200,000 illegal abortion procedures performed contributed to the unnecessary risk of the lives of mother and child in the United States. Due to the prohibition of abortion, lives were endangered, women were denied their fundamental right to choose, and failed to stop abortion.
Roe v. Wade is one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions in United States history. Norma Leah McCorvey Nelson was the plaintiff for the lawsuit, Roe v. Wade, of 1973. "Jane Roe" is McCorvey's legal pseudonym. McCorvey was pregnant with her third child; a pregnancy she did not desire. After a failing to be granted an abortion by a medical professional in Texas, McCorvey was referred to lawyers, Linda Coffee, and Sarah Weddington. On behalf of McCorvey, Coffee and Weddington filed a suit to the United States District Court; battling abortion laws. Henry Wade was the defendant of the case, on behalf of the State of Texas. He was also Dallas County's former prosecutor and district attorney. In its obituary, The Guardian deemed Wade as: “The lawyer who precipitated one of the most controversial judicial decisions in American history”. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) accepted the Coffee and Weddington’s case in 1970. After being set for reargument in 1972, Roe v. Wade was passed in a 7-2 decision. The Court ruled that individual state laws banning abortion were unconstitutional. Roe v. Wade allowed women, as a part of their constitutional rights, to have an abortion during the first two trimesters of a pregnancy (the first 26 weeks). However, the state is able to regulate an otherwise healthy pregnancy if it is during the final trimester when the fetus is able to survive outside the womb. This verdict allowed women in the United States to do as they pleased in regards to their reproductive systems and bodies.
Abortion is a persistent issue that the Courts and public have been debating for decades. Abortion is the act of intentional miscarriage; it terminates a pregnancy. After the United States became independent in 1776, most states applied English common law to abortion which considered it illegal after four to five months upon conception. “From 1776 until the mid-1800s abortion was viewed as socially unacceptable; however, abortions were not illegal in most states. During the 1860s a number of states passed anti-abortion laws. Most of these laws were ambiguous and difficult to enforce. After 1860 stronger anti-abortion laws were passed and these laws were more vigorously enforced. As a result, many women began to utilize illegal underground abortion services” (Abortion in Early America). Anti-abortion statutes began to appear in the U.S. in the 1820s. In 1821 Connecticut, a law targeted apothecaries supplying abortion-inducing drugs to women, abortifacients. More than half of the consumers were married women. By obtaining abortions, these women worried conservative physicians who, at the time, were dominantly male. Conservative male physicians expressed their distaste for abortion. This controversial subject soon became an attack against women’s body rights.
Ever since abortion was cast into the spotlight, there have been several anti-abortion, pro-life, and pro-choice movements. Horatio Storer was an American physician and anti-abortion activist. He founded the national campaign, Physician’s Crusade Against Abortion. Storer also convinced the American Medical Association to advocate against abortion. The AMA then launched a campaign against abortion headed by Storer. Their goal was to outlaw abortions with the exception of medical emergencies. They also wanted to raise the restrictions on the practice and only allow medical professionals to perform them. Of course, these demands directly benefited the healthcare industry. By advocating for the criminalization of abortion, the AMA eliminated the competitors of doctors such as midwives.
The illegality of abortion denied women of their fundamental right to choose. A woman should have access to a safe and legal option for abortion. Women decide to receive an abortion due to various reasons such as lack of financial, mental, and physical preparedness. Pregnancy is a life-altering occurrence that people may not be ready for. If a woman did not want to continue her pregnancy she would not be able to have a safe and legal abortion performed by a medical professional because it was illegal. The right of choice has been established various times in U.S. history. In the United States, a country founded on the right to choose and have a voice in who are our leaders (democracy), both men and women should be able to choose for themselves and their bodies. Abortion is a woman’s choice because it is she whose life is at risk, it is she who endures the pain, and her life that changes.