Hot Topic: Abortion Rights
Topic Guide
Abortion is a medical or surgical procedure to deliberately end a pregnancy. In 1973 the US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade ruled that the Constitution protects the right to an abortion prior to the viability of a fetus. Until the 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Roe v. Wade allowed a person living in any US state to exercise the right to an abortion at their own discretion through the end of the first trimester, generally around the twelfth week of pregnancy. States were allowed some power to regulate abortion access during the second and third trimesters. The Dobbs ruling, however, ended the federally protected right to abortion and returned the authority to determine all abortion-related law to state governments. (Opposing Viewpoints)
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health (1983)
Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (1986)
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)
Bray v. Alexandria Clinic (1993)
Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)