Article Written By: Isabella MacLean
Article Cover By: Zainab Anwar
Roe v. Wade is recognized today as one of the most controversial constitutional rights in American History. This is not only a national, but also a world-wide debate that essentially boils down to each individual’s perception of morality. While some find it immoral to allow abortions to be legalized, others find it immoral to prevent this freedom. The right to abortion continues to be constant battle in American politics since Margaret Sanger and her fight for reproductive freedom during the first half of the 20th-century. Abortion was established as a constitutional right by the United States Supreme Court during the trial between “Jane Roe” and Henry Wade in 1973.
Abortion is certainly not a new practice. It is concept that has existed in human civilization dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, Romans, etc. who all used herbs and other natural materials to induce miscarriage. In America from the 1600s up until the 1800s, abortion wasn’t just practiced, but advertised. During this period of acceptance, you could find advertisements for birth control methods and products in the local paper. It was generally accepted that prior to the “quickening” (the moment you feel the fetus move in the womb- around the 4 month), it is perfectly legal to intentionally induce misscarriage. At this point in time, churches weren’t opposed to the concept of abortion, and even followed the 4 month limit. It wasn’t until the 19th-century that the American people began to question the morality of abortion and birth control.
The American Medical Association (AMA) founded in 1847, made it their main focus to illegalize abortions in the US (the only exceptions being if the mother’s life was threatened by the pregnancy). Horatio Storer, “the father of modern gynecology,” joined the AMA and created the Committee of Criminal Abortion. The committee and Storer had a major impact on the criminalization of abortion in the mid to late 1800s. In 1873, the Comstock Act was passed which made the use of any form of contraception or abortifacients illegal. From then on restrictive reproductive rights were passed by many states and the continuing battle between a women’s privacy and “protecting life” began.
In 1969, a young woman living in Texas sought to terminate her pregnancy. Norma McCorvey, who went by the name “Jane Roe,” had already given birth to 2 children previously, both of which she gave up for adoption. She was currently living in poor conditions, obviously unfit to have a child and/or raise it and she didn’t have the means to travel to another country to have an abortion procedure. Instead she attempted an illegal abortion, also referred to as “back alley” abortions.
When that failed she had no choice but to turn to attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, who filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, where McCorvey resided. The 1970 lawsuit was filed on behalf of all women who could become or are pregnant, and wished to safely terminate the pregnancy without government interference. It was ruled by the Texas district court that the state-wide ban was unconstitutional, since it invaded the right to privacy, protected by the 14th amendment. The case traveled its way up to the Supreme Court and in 1973, they again deemed the Texas law unconstitutional and legalized abortion throughout the US. up until the end of the 1st trimester.
The right to abortion represents the right a woman has to choose, the right to her own body. Roe v. Wade demonstrates the constant battle between women’s freedoms and the outdated restrictions of the government. It is a battle that continues today and a battle that will forever exist. With the recent decision of the Supreme Court, who overturned the right on June 24th, 2022, it has become even more important to advocate for women’s privacy and the right to their own bodies.
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