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The Beginning of The Abortion Outlaw
For thousands of years, abortion has been commonly practiced and studied; even legal from the time the earliest settlers arrived in the now United States. Around the early 1800s, different states began to outlaw abortion for a range of reasons: some did not want the children of immigrants to dominate the population while other states became concerned over the health implications commonly associated with an era not devout of medical innovation and rather posed a threat to the health of women. -
First US Law Barring Abortion
Connecticut passes the first law in the United States barring abortions after a series of "back-ally" abortions ended with a series of medical implications by part of women seeking to have an abortion but could not afford to have it done by medical professionals, even of which the associated risks were still tremendously high. -
Griswold v. Connecticut
The Griswold v. Connecticut supreme court decision ruled in favor of prohibiting married people from receiving information about contraception or medical advice on the matter. -
Colorado Liberalizes Abortion Laws
Colorado becomes the first state to liberalize its abortion laws. -
Eisenstadt v. Baird
Supreme Court decision establishes the right of unmarried people to use contraceptives. This court ruling overturned the decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, in which married couples were prohibited from even receiving information about contraception. -
Roe v. Wade
The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade made it possible for women to get safe, legal abortions from well-trained medical practitioners. This led to dramatic decreases in pregnancy-related injury and death." the Supreme Court ruled that Americans’ right to privacy included the right of a woman to decide whether to have children and the right of a woman and her doctor to make that decision without state interference." (Induced Abortion: A World Review) -
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey
Reaffirms the “core” holdings of Roe that women have a right to abortion before the viability of a fetus, but allows states to restrict abortion access so long as these restrictions do not impose an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions. -
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE)
The FACE Act forbids the use of “force, the threat of force or physical obstruction” to prevent someone from providing or receiving reproductive health services. The law also provides for both criminal and civil penalties for those who break the law. This, of course, extends to abortion and implies that anyone who can get in the way of a woman getting an abortion can have legal action taken against them under the law. -
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Bush Attempts to Ban Abortion
Regardless of all of the prior legislation that had been helping in abortion safety and accessibility, president Bush attempts to place a ban on abortion. A federal ban on abortion procedures is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. The National Abortion Federation immediately challenges the law in court.
In 2004, the NAF wins the lawsuit against the federal abortion ban. Justice Department appeals rulings by three trial courts against ban.
