Roe v Wade

Significance of Roe v Wade

States cannot make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion as that is unconstitutional, but they can choose the cut off point for abortions that are not to do with saving the mother's health

When was the case presented to the court?

1973

What is the case about?

If the Constitution embraced a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion as Roe, a Texas resident, sought to terminate her pregnancy by abortion. Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the pregnant woman's life.

What did the court rule?

7-2 in favour of Roe that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy (recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. As a result, the laws of 46 states were affected by the Court's ruling.

Why has Roe v Wade made news recently?

Brett Kavagnaugh expressed a disapproval to abortion and he has replaced Kennedy who was a swing vote conservative and supported abortion

How has it been affected by other cases?

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Court rejected Roe's trimester framework while affirming its central holding that a woman has a right to abortion until fetal viability at 23 or 24 weeks, or sometimes even earlier, in light of medical advances.