Roe v. Wade and the Right to Abortion

As the Court said, the constitutional right “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”6 The Court also held that the right to abortion is “fundamental,” meaning that governmental attempts to interfere with the right are subject to the highest level of review by courts.7 The Court recognized “the detriment that the State would impose upon the pregna. [...] interests:10 during the first trimester, the decision must be left completely to the individual and their doctor; during At the same time, the Court in Casey announced a the second trimester, a state could only regulate abortion new “undue burden” standard of review for abortion if necessary to protect patient health; in the third trimester, restrictions.21 Under the undue burden standard, states. [...] abortion, the only restriction struck down by the Court as an undue burden was a requirement that a woman notify her In the years after Roe, the Court struck down most attempts husband before having an abortion.22 to restrict the right to abortion,12 facilitating the ability of pregnant people to control their reproduction, health, and The decision in Casey emboldened legislators hostile to course. [...] it had no exception for the health of a pregnant person, and The Court undertook a thorough review of the evolution of even though the Court had struck down an identical state the law, factual underpinnings, and the role of the Court, law only 7 years before.25 and expressly reaffirmed Roe’s “essential holding”17: “The woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy before viability After the Gonzales v. [...] Court also recognized the harm of taking away the right These Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) laws to abortion, and the importance of abortion in people’s reached the Supreme Court in 2016, in Whole Woman’s lives, affirming that “[t]he ability of women to participate Health v.