Roe v. Wade
Landmark abortion ruling
Roe v.
Wade was the 1973 U.S.
Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion.
The ruling held that the right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment protected a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy, though states could regulate abortion in later trimesters.
The case was overturned in 2022 by Dobbs v.
Jackson, returning abortion regulation to the states.
Roe v. Wade often functions as shorthand for abortion rights generally: They're trying to overturn Roe.
Ending a pregnancy
- 1973Early seventies date
- precedentPrior authoritative example
- historicOf lasting significance
- watershedDrainage area boundary
seminal · pivotal · groundbreaking · transformative · constitutional · overturned · reversal · legacy
Supporting legal abortion access
- pro-lifeAgainst elective pregnancy termination
- debateFormal argument on issues
- polarizingCausing sharp division
- activismDirect effort for reform
demonstrations · protests · rallies · marches · ethics · morality · divide · conservative
Nation's top tribunal
- judiciaryLaw-interpreting government branch
- justicesAdministrators of law
- plaintiffCivil case initiator
- defendantParty facing charges
appellant · opinion · majority · dissent · briefs · oral arguments · certiorari · docket
Availability of pregnancy termination
- clinicsOutpatient treatment facilities
- Planned ParenthoodReproductive health services nonprofit
- providersThose who furnish
- restrictionsLimitations on action
parental consent · funding · services · women's health · counseling · referrals · buffer zones
Freedom from observation
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- bodily integrityControl over one's form
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
reproductive freedom · due process · Fourteenth Amendment · penumbras · emanations · substantive · individual · fundamental
abortion
Ending a pregnancy
watershed · seminal · pivotal · groundbreaking · transformative · constitutional · overturned · reversal · legacy · Jane Roe
pro-choice
Supporting legal abortion access
- pro-lifeAgainst elective pregnancy termination
- debateFormal argument on issues
- polarizingCausing sharp division
activism · demonstrations · protests · rallies · marches · ethics · morality · divide · conservative · liberal
Supreme Court
Nation's top tribunal
- judiciaryLaw-interpreting government branch
- justicesAdministrators of law
- plaintiffCivil case initiator
defendant · appellant · opinion · majority · dissent · briefs · oral arguments · certiorari · docket · injunction
abortion access
Availability of pregnancy termination
- clinicsOutpatient treatment facilities
- Planned ParenthoodReproductive health services nonprofit
- providersThose who furnish
restrictions · parental consent · funding · services · women's health · counseling · referrals · buffer zones
privacy
Freedom from observation
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- bodily integrityControl over one's form
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
reproductive freedom · self-determination · due process · Fourteenth Amendment · penumbras · emanations · substantive · individual · fundamental · protected
- Supreme Court CasesMarbury v. Madison, Brown v Board, Brown v. Board, Miranda v Arizona, Miranda v. Arizona
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- women's historywomen's history, herstory, women's movement, suffrage movement, notable women
- constitutional lawConstitution, Bill of Rights, First Amendment, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment
- women's rightssuffrage movement, women's suffrage, women's rights, gender equality, feminism
- court rulingsrulings, divorce decree, judgments, annulment, verdicts
Roe v. Wadepro-life movement
Opposing pregnancy termination
right to life · March for Life · sanctity of life · fetal rights