Took place in 1965 and was based on the right to privacy
Targeted states that prohibited birth control
In 1879, Connecticut passed a law that banned the use of any drug, medical device, or other instruments in furthering contraception.
The 1879 law provided that "any person who uses any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception shall be fined not less than forty dollars or imprisoned not less than sixty days." The law further provided that "any person who assists, abets, counsels, causes, hires or commands another to commit any offense may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender."
Case Outcome: The Supreme Court ruled that a state's ban on the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy.
Roe vs Wade
Took place in 1973 and was based on the right to abortion
Targeted government’s restriction on abortion
The case focused on how the U.S. Constitution protected pregnant women’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without government restriction. The case struck down many U.S. state and federal abortion laws, and prompted an ongoing national debate in the United States about whether and to what extent abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, what methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication, and what the role of religious and moral views in the political sphere should be.
Case Outcome: The Court came to the conclusion that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy and is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment
For Pro-Life
Harris v. West Alabama Women’s Center
Took place in 2019 and was based on the method of abortion
Targeted states that prohibited birth control
Targeted a specific method of an abortion: A state law that criminalized performing an abortion using the dilation and evacuation (D & E) method.
Prevents abortion providers from purposefully dismembering a living unborn child and extracting it one piece at a time from the uterus through the use of clamps to slice, crush, or grasp a portion of the unborn child's body to cut or rip it off.
Case Outcome: In June 2019, the Supreme Court had denied the petition for a writ of certiorari thus leaving the case in the hands of the local court.
Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky
Took place in 2018-2019 and was based on the disposition of fetal remains by abortion providers and having an ultrasound before an abortion
Aimed to resurrect state restrictions on abortion
In the first petition, the state defends its law requiring the disposal of aborted or miscarried fetuses by cremation or internment. Perhaps the most direct threat to the landmark Roe v. Wade, the state law’s other requirement prohibits what it calls “discriminatory” abortions based on sex, race or disability of the fetus. The only exception is for a “fetal condition that … will with reasonable certainty result in the death of the child not more than three months after the child’s birth.”
In the second petition, Indiana also defends its requirement that women seeking an abortion must first get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before the procedure and be given the option of viewing it and hearing the fetal heartbeat.
Case Outcome: The Court denied certiorari with regard to the second question on non-discrimination, leaving the lower court's injunction on the non-discrimination and informed consent clauses in place.
Laws and Restrictions
The Heartbeat bill or Fetal Heartbeat bill is a form of abortion restriction legislation in the United States which makes abortions illegal if the fetal heartbeat is detected.
The Reproductive Health Act: A New York state law enacted on January 22, 2019, that expanded abortion rights and eliminated several restrictions on abortion in the state.
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act: United States law prohibiting a form of late termination of pregnancy called "partial-birth abortion".
40 states require an abortion to be performed by a licensed physician.
19 states require an abortion to be performed in a hospital after a specified point in the pregnancy, and 17 states require the involvement of a second physician after a specified point.
43 states prohibit abortions, generally except when necessary to protect the woman’s life or health, after a specified point in pregnancy.
21 states have laws in effect that prohibit “partial-birth” abortion. 3 of these laws apply only to postviability abortions.
16 states use their own funds to pay for all or most medically necessary abortions for Medicaid enrollees in the state. 33 states and the District of Columbia prohibit the use of state funds except in those cases when federal funds are available: where the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. In defiance of federal requirements, South Dakota limits funding to cases of life endangerment only.
12 states restrict coverage of abortion in private insurance plans, most often limiting coverage only to when the woman’s life would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term. Most states allow the purchase of additional abortion coverage at an additional cost.
45 states allow individual health care providers to refuse to participate in an abortion. 42 states allow institutions to refuse to perform abortions, 16 of which limit refusal to private or religious institutions.
18 states mandate that women be given counseling before an abortion that includes information on at least one of the following: the purported link between abortion and breast cancer (5 states), the ability of a fetus to feel pain (13 states) or long-term mental health consequences for the woman (8 states).
27 states require a woman seeking an abortion to wait a specified period of time, usually 24 hours, between when she receives counseling and the procedure is performed. 14 of these states have laws that effectively require the woman make two separate trips to the clinic to obtain the procedure.
37 states require some type of parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion. 26 states require one or both parents to consent to the procedure, while 11 require that one or both parents be notified.
