When Was Abortion Legalized?

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in its ruling on Roe v. Wade. Prior to 1973, most states had outlawed it in their own criminal codes. The ruling held that a woman’s right to have an abortion was protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, thus overturning all state laws that prohibited or restricted abortion. Following the decision, there was a significant increase in abortions performed across the country—from about 200,000 annually to more than one million annually by 1980—though this is likely related to other factors as well. Abortion has been a controversial issue in the United States since the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which declared that women have a constitutional right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Although opponents of abortion have been able to pass state laws restricting or banning the procedure, these restrictions have been challenged in court and overturned. The Supreme Court has upheld the legality of abortion in subsequent cases, but it has also allowed states to place restrictions on the procedure. Public opinion on abortion remains divided, with a majority of Americans supporting the legality of the procedure while at least half are opposed. The issue of abortion is likely to continue to be a controversial one in the United States; there is currently no federal law banning abortion.