What Did Roe v. Wade Say?

By a 7 to 2 ballot successful 1973, the Supreme Court established a law close to abortion, striking down laws successful galore states that had barred the procedure. The tribunal said states could not prohibition abortions earlier fetal viability, the constituent astatine which the fetus tin past extracurricular the womb. That was astir 28 weeks astatine the clip and, due to the fact that of improvements successful aesculapian technology, is astir 23 weeks now.

Roe besides established a model to govern termination regularisation based connected the trimesters of pregnancy. In the archetypal trimester, it allowed astir nary regulations. In the second, it allowed regulations to support women’s health. In the third, it allowed states to prohibition abortions truthful agelong arsenic exceptions were made to support the beingness and wellness of the mother.

The tribunal discarded the trimester model successful 1992 successful Planned Parenthood v. Casey. But Casey retained what it called Roe’s “essential holding” — that women person a law close to terminate their pregnancies until fetal viability.