Abortion

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision, which created a legal, though limited, right to abortion. Roe v. Wade concluded that the "right of privacy …founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty …is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." Based on their individual right to privacy, women in consultation with their doctors were given the legal right to choose abortion in the first three months (or first trimester) of pregnancy. State laws were permitted to limit second-trimester abortions "only in the interest of the woman's safety." In the final three months (third trimester) of pregnancy, Roe v. Wade allowed states to protect the fetus by restricting abortion unless there is potential danger to the life or health of the pregnant woman.

Roe v. Wade granted women the right to early abortion with a physician's consent, but it did not guarantee financial or medical access to abortion. In 1976 the U.S. Congress passed the Hyde amendment to a federal appropriations bill, eliminating federal reimbursement for induced abortions from Medicaid public insurance coverage for low-income women. Through 2001, Congress had annually reinstated this ban on federal funding of abortion, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest, and threats to the life of the woman if she continues the pregnancy. As of 1997 the cost of an abortion in a clinic or doctor's office ranged from $100 to $1,535, averaging between $316 and $401.

Funding issues have been only one arena of debate in the controversy over women's right to abortion. Religious and personal beliefs lead some people to reject abortion as an individual option for themselves. Among those with personal objections to abortion, some advocate for the right of other people to make their own decisions. Others attempt to use the judicial and legislative systems to return to the situation that existed before legalization. Attitudes toward sexuality and women's autonomy, as well as fundamental beliefs about social control over individual decision making, motivate activists on different sides of the abortion issue.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard another major abortion case in July 1992. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court reviewed a Pennsylvania statute that required women seeking abortions to receive counseling from physicians in favor of continuing their pregnancies, and then to wait at least twenty-four hours before obtaining an abortion procedure. Notification of spouses and parents about requests for abortions was also required. Only the provision for spousal notification was considered to impose an undue burden on women by the Supreme Court, and this provision was thus judged unconstitutional. The Court acknowledged the situation of women in abusive relationships, with the potential for violence perceived as part of the burden for women wishing to act independently of their partners. Other provisions of the statute were left intact, although most were seen by the Court as medically unnecessary and burdensome to a lesser extent.

Although Roe v. Wade was not overturned by the Supreme Court in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, the Court's strict interpretation of undue burden set a precedent for states to impose numerous restrictions on women exercising their right to abortion. As of January 2001, the majority (31) of states had parental notification or consent laws in effect for adolescents seeking abortions. The participation of at least one parent is expected in these states. In most states it is possible for a teen to receive a "judicial bypass" of parental involvement, but only if the teen has the information and resources to bring a persuasive request to a court.