-
Poison-Control Regulations
In the 1820-30s, states passed poison-control laws, banning abortifacients since they were known for killing women that took them. This was the country's first abortion regulation. In 1821, Connecticut passed the first statutory abortion regulation in the United States. The regulation banned the use of poison to induce abortions after quickening (also known as "flutters" during pregnancy). The punishment for this crime was a life sentence. -
The Comstock Law
In 1873, Congress passed the Comstock Law. This law banned the distribution and information of contraceptives. Then, twenty-four states passed laws that regulated the use and sale of contraceptives. In the 1880s, almost all states had laws criminalizing abortions. -
Margaret Sanger
In 1916, Margaret Sanger, the forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is arrested for opening the first birth-control clinic in the U.S. This clinic was located in Brooklyn, New York. When 1930 came around, abortion was the official cause of death for 2,700 women. In 1951, Sanger enlisted the help of Gregory Pincus to create a "magic pill". This became the first contraceptive women could take orally. -
FDA approved Enovid
In 1960, the FDA approved an oral contraceptive called Enovid. In 1962, about 1,600 women were being hospitalized in New York for incomplete abortions. In 1964, a woman named Geraldine Santoro dies during a botched abortion. A graphic image was released in a magazine and became a symbol of the pro-life movement. Finally, in 1965, the Supreme Court ruled that a contraception law created in 1879 violated a married couple's right to privacy. This laid out the blueprints for Roe v. Wade in 1973. -
Colorado Liberalizes Laws
In 1967, Colorado allowed women to undergo an abortion only under these regulations: rape, incest, mental health reason, or fetal defects. From 1969-73 in Chicago, an underground service, Collective Jane, was performing around 12,000 safe abortions. Finally, in 1970, Hawaii became the first state to legalize abortion. Soon after, New York nullified its laws criminalizing abortion. -
Roe v. Wade
In 1971, the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case of Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) against Henry Wade, a Dallas D.A. Wade enforced a Texas law banning abortion except in cases of life endangerment. Then, 1973, a 7-2 decision is made by the Supreme Court in favor of Roe. This granted women the right to terminate pregnancies under the 14th Amendment. -
Hyde Amendment and Abortion Control Act
In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment. This excluded the use of Medicaid and other federal funding for abortions. Then, in 1982, Pennsylvania passed the Abortion Control Act. This provided a twenty-four-hour waiting period, required parental consent for minors, and required wives to tell their husbands about the abortion. -
Freedom to Access of Clinic Entrances Act (FACE)
In 1993, Dr. David Gunn is shot outside of his clinic in Pensacola, Florida. This was no surprise because during the mid-80s many doctor's offices and one abortion clinic were being bombed in Pensacola. During 1994, Congress passed FACE. This made it a federal crime to block access to reproductive health care. Throughout the 90s, there were many attacks. In 1998, U.S citizen James C. Kopp shoots Dr. Barnett Slepian through his kitchen window. Slepian was an abortion doctor in Buffalo, New York. -
FDA approved RU-486
In 2000, the FDA approved the abortion pill mifepristone (RU-486) after decade battle by activists and health-care providers. -
Abortion Restrictions
In 2016, many states have proposed 1,074 abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade.
