Abortion

Introduction
Early history
Roe, Casey, and Dobbs
Pro-choice and pro-life groups
Democratic and Republican party positions
Contemporary abortion procedures
Pros
- Pro 1: Abortion is a safe medical procedure that protects lives.
- Pro 2: Abortion bans endanger reproductive healthcare for everyone.
- Pro 3: Abortion is a fundamental human right that affirms bodily autonomy
Cons
- Con 1: Abortion is murder.
- Con 2: Legal abortion promotes a culture in which life is disposable.
- Con 3: Better access to birth control, health insurance, and sexual education would make abortion unnecessary.
U.S. Abortion Legality
- State-by-state legality
- Abortion laws in U.S. territories
- Types of U.S. state abortion restrictions
Global abortion laws
Religious views on legal abortion
- Pro: Buddhism
- Pro: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Pro: Episcopal Church
- Pro: Presbyterian Church USA
- Pro: Unitarian Universalist Association
- Pro: United Church of Christ
- Not clearly pro or con: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Not clearly pro or con: Judaism
- Not clearly pro or con: National Baptist Convention
- Not clearly pro or con: Seventh-day Adventist Church
- Not clearly pro or con: United Methodist Church
- Con: Assemblies of God
- Con: Catholic Church
- Con: Greek Orthodox
- Con: Hinduism
- Con: Islam
- Con: Jehovah’s Witnesses
- Con: Southern Baptist Convention
Historical timeline
- Pre-Roe v. Wade
  - Pre-1800s - Abortion is largely legal
  - 1821 - Connecticut is first state to criminalize abortion
  - 1845 - New York criminalizes pregnant people’s participation in abortions
  - Mid-1800s - American Medical Association campaigns to outlaw abortion
- Roe v. Wade Era
  - January 22, 1973 - Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion nationwide
  - 1976 - Hyde Amendment
  - August 1984 - Mexico City Policy
  - 1990 - 2011 - Abortion rates fall
  - June 29, 1992 - Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey upholds legal abortion
  - November 5, 2003 - “Partial-birth” abortion ban Act signed by Pres. George W. Bush
  - 2009-2010 - Obamacare will not cover abortions
  - January 3, 2017 - 69 percent of Americans do not want Roe overturned
  - March 2017 - HHS attempts to block abortions for undocumented, unaccompanied minors
  - July 7, 2017 - 57 percent of Americans support legal abortion
  - 2017 - Over 60 million legal abortions performed in United States since Roe
  - 2018 - Poll says health insurance should cover abortions
  - January 2018 - 51 percent of Americans are pro-choice
  - 2019 - CDC reports 195 abortions to 1,000 live births
  - July 13, 2020 - In-person requirements for medication abortions ruled unconstitutional
  - June 2021 - 47 percent of Americans say abortion is morally acceptable
  - September 22, 2021 - Polls say most Americans want to keep Roe
  - December 16, 2021 - FDA lifts in-person requirements for mifepristone
  - May 2, 2022 - Leaked draft indicates Roe will be overturned
  - June 2, 2022 - 58 percent of Americans oppose overturning Roe
- Post-Roe v. Wade Era
  - June 24, 2022 - U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe and Casey
  - June 27, 2022 - Report indicates abortion numbers remain the same regardless of legality
  - June - December 2022 - Tubal sterilizations rise in states with abortion bans
  - July 8, 2022 - HHS ordered to report on abortion protections
  - July 11, 2022 - EMTALA protects abortions in some cases
  - July 13, 2022 - Pharmacies that receive federal assistance are not permitted to refuse abortion prescriptions
  - July 14, 2022 - Texas sues over EMTALA abortion protections
  - August 23, 2022 - District Court Judge strikes down EMTALA abortion protections
  - August 24, 2022 - Idaho law banning emergency abortions blocked
  - September 1, 2022 - Department of Veterans Affairs will provide abortions
  - January 3, 2023 - FDA announces pharmacies can dispense mifepristone
  - April 2023 - Dueling mifepristone court rulings
  - June 2023 - Abortion access dropped dramatically over last year
  - March 19, 2023 - Abortions increased in 2023
  - March 4, 2024 - France adds abortion rights to constitution
  - March 14, 2024 - Kamala Harris visits Planned Parenthood
  - May 2024 - 63 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal
  - October 1, 2024 - Infant mortality rates attract scrutiny
  - October 22, 2024 - Those from states with bans seek online abortion pills or travel to legal abortion states
  - December 2024 - Texas sues New York doctor
  - January 2025 - 62 percent of Americans are pro-choice
  - January 2025 - States with abortion bans lose residents
  - February 2025 - Louisiana criminally indicts New York doctor
  - March 17, 2025 - Texas arrests midwife and associate for providing abortions
  - April 3, 2025 - Judge rules Alabama can’t prosecute groups for aiding out-of-state travel for abortions
  - May 29, 2025 - Trump administration rescinds EMTALA protections for emergency abortions
  - June 9, 2025 - Women and men split on abortion views
  - June 26, 2025 - U.S. Supreme Court rules South Carolina can block funding to Planned Parenthood
  - September 30, 2025 - FDA approves generic abortion pill
  - March 12, 2026 - Most Americans agree abortion should be legal in all or most cases
  - March 12, 2026 - Most Americans agree medication abortion should be legal
  - March 19, 2026 - 52 percent say abortion is not morally wrong
  - March 24, 2026 - Abortion rates remain steady
Assessment quiz
1-minute survey
Discussion questions
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

A pink highlighter pen marks the word abortion in a close-up of a dictionary page.

A full page of ancient Egyptian writing in black and some red ink.

Two women hold a circular sign with the text keep abortion legal in 1973.

A group of people hold signs for and against legal abortion.

An interactive map of the United States showing each state's abortion laws.

Abortion: Media

Should abortion be legal?

Images

A pink highlighter pen marks the word abortion in a close-up of a dictionary page.

Should abortion be legal?

© Feng Yu/stock.adobe.com

A full page of ancient Egyptian writing in black and some red ink.

Ebers papyrus: One of many ancient Egyptian medical writings, this papyrus was written in hieratic text c. 1550 bce and included a prescription for inducing an abortion.

Wellcome Collection, London (Public Domain Mark)

Two women hold a circular sign with the text keep abortion legal in 1973.

Norma McCorvey, left, who was “Jane Roe” in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, with her attorney, Gloria Allred, outside the Supreme Court in April 1989.

© Lorie Shaull

A group of people hold signs for and against legal abortion.

Should abortion be legal? Protestors for and against legal abortion.

© mark reinstein/Shutterstock.com

Interactives

An interactive map of the United States showing each state's abortion laws.

An interactive map of the United States showing each state's abortion laws.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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