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Abortion in America

On January 22nd, 1973 the United States Supreme Court, in a decision known as Roe v. Wade, ruled that state laws banning abortion were unconstitutional. The court ruled that a woman's privacy was more important than the interest of any state in protecting unborn children.

This decision was neither voted on by the populace nor mandated by the legislative or executive branches of the government. With a stroke of a pen, the Supreme Court struck down abortion laws in over 40 states and declared the unborn child was not a "person" and had no constitutional rights.

The 7-2 ruling in Roe v. Wade stated:

1) A woman's constitutional right to privacy includes the right to determine the outcome of her pregnancy.

2) An unborn child is not a "person" within the meaning of our Constitution.

3) A state may only ban abortions in cases when the unborn child has already reached viability and there is no threat to the woman's health. 

A second, and even more far-reaching, decision known as Doe v. Bolton was also handed down by the Supreme Court on that same day. In this ruling, the Court issued the following definition of "health" of the mother:

"[T]he medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors -- physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age -- relevant to the well being of the patient.  All these factors may relate to health." Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 192 (1973).

Doe v. Bolton, in effect, made abortion in demand through the ninth month of pregnancy the law of the land.

Since 1973, over one million legal abortions have been performed annually in the United States. Estimates are that in excess of 45 million unborn children have been aborted as a result of these two United States Supreme Court rulings.