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First laws against abortion are passed.
Women use herbs and other plants to perform abortions, leading to many deaths. States pass poison control measures. -
Connecticut takes a stance
Connecticut passes a regulation banning abortion via poison, the punishment is a life sentence. -
Abortion scandal in New York
Abortionist Madame Restell advertises her services in the New York newspaper, scandals ensue, and Madame Restell makes a fortune. -
The push to criminalize abortion
The American Medical Association begins to push to criminalize abortion. -
Comstock Laws
Congress passes the Comstock Law banning information and distribution of birth control, many states pass laws regulating the sale of birth control. -
Turn of the century
By the end of the 1800s, almost all states have criminalized abortion. -
The arrest of Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the United States, she is arrested for this. -
The toll
2,700 women die from abortion in the year 1930 -
Creation of the "Magic Pill"
Margaret Sanger enlists Gregory Pincus, a scientist to develop a "Magic Pill", this will become the first oral birth control. -
An advance in birth control
The FDA approves the first oral birth control, Enovid. -
The Injured
Almost 1,600 women are admitted to hospitals for incomplete abortions. -
A horrible death
Geraldine Santoro dies in a motel after an abortion is botched. -
Ground work for Roe v. Wade
The supreme court overturns an 1879 law criminalizing birth control, as it violates a married couple's right to privacy, this would become the base for Roe v. Wade -
Laws are changing
Colorado becomes the first state to change it's abortion laws making it illegal except in the case rape, incest, fetal defects, and mental health. -
The Underground
An underground collective in Chicago called Jane would safely perform 12,000 abortions from 1969 to 1973. -
Legalization
Hawaii legalizes abortion and is followed by New York soon after. -
The beginning of Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court agrees to hear the case of Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) -
The Numbers
In the year 1972, an estimated 130,000 women have illegal or self-inflicted abortions, over 100,000 travel to New York for them, around half of that number traveling more than 500 miles. -
Publication of a horrible death
The Ms. magazine would publish a picture of Geraldine Santoro laying dead in a motel room on the floor after a botched abortion, this would become a symbol for the pro-choice movement. -
The Decision of Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court in a 7 to 2 decision gives women the right to end pregnancies under the 14th amendment/ -
The Hyde Amendment
Congress passes the Hyde Amendment prohibiting people from using Medicaid and other federal fundings for abortions -
Pennsylvania's 24 hour waiting period
The state of Pennsylvania passes the Abortion Control Act, this gives women a 24 hour waiting period, requires married women to notify their husband, and parental consent for minors. -
The opposition attacks
In Pensacola Florida, two doctors office and a clinic are bombed by abortion opponents -
States gain control
In the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the core ruling of Roe v. Wade is upheld but much of the Abortion Control Act is upheld as well. This gives states the right to restrict abortion -
The Killings begin
Dr. Gunn would be the first known abortion provider to be killed, in front of his clinic in Pensacola. -
The FACE Act
After the murder of Dr. Gunn Congress passed the FACE act, this made it a federal crime to block access to reproductive health care. -
More deaths of Doctors
In July Dr. Britton and a volunteer at his clinic are shot and killed, later in December two are killed and five are hurt in a rampage at two Massachusetts clinics. -
The violence continues
In January a clinic in Alabama is bombed killing a guard and injuring a nurse, later the same year Dr. Slepain is shot and killed in his own home. -
Nebraska changes its laws
The State of Nebraska rule its statute banning partial-birth abortion, as it is unconstitutional, as it does not make an exemption for saving the mothers life -
A New Medicine
In September the FDA would approve a new abortion pill, mifepristone, this only after a ten-year campaign for it my activists and doctors -
Another Doctor Killed
DR. Tiller, a provider of late-term abortions is killed while at church in Kansas -
The killings continue
In November a man would open fire on a clinic in colorado killing three and injuring 9, the shooter says he is a " warrior for the babies" he is later deemed mentally unstable and unable to stand trial -
Arrests for illegal abortions
In March, Purvi Patel, an Indiana woman, would be arrested and sentenced for 20 years for self aborting using medicine she got off the internet. In December, Anna Yocca of Tennessee would be arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder for trying to self abort with a coat hanger. -
Citations
Larson, J. (2017, January 17). Timeline: The 200-Year Fight for Abortion Access. Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/timeline-the-200-year-fight-for-abortion-access.html
Abortion History Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nrlc.org/abortion/history/