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Formation of AMA
The American Medical Association was formed by all male authority figures. The AMA scrutinized reproductive health care workers, including midwives and nurses, and the obstetric services they offered. AMA believed that they should have the power on if abortions should be performed or not. At this time the AMA lacked physicians who held expertise in pregnancy and reproductive health. -
Criminalization & Vilification
All states now had laws that restricted abortion with exceptions in some states that allowed a doctor to perform an abortion only in the case it was necessary to save the life of the patient. As abortion became criminalized, the stigma surrounding it grew and it became hated more and more. -
Abortion Bans Nationwide
By this year abortion was restricted & outright illegal at every stage in pregnancy in every state of the US. There were still some states that had exceptions on allowing abortion to save the patients life, but it would be up to the doctors, whom were 95% men, to make this decision. -
Unsafe Abortions
By criminalizing abortions, it sent the practice underground which resulted in a high death toll. In 1930 illegal abortions were the cause of death for almost 2,700 women, which equates to almost one out of every 5 recorded maternal deaths that year. -
Initial Presence of Planned Parenthood
Since there was an increasingly alarming coverage of unsafe, illegal abortions in the media, Planned Parenthood held its first conference on the issues of abortion. At this conference many attendees stated that laws should be rewritten to allow doctors greater latitude to provide abortions. This would then improve public health and access to reproductive health for people who are not economically stable & wealthy. -
Association for the Study of Abortion
Abortion law reform activists resisted their first national group: the ASA. Planned Parenthood joined the ASA in advocating for abortion law reforms and for studies that would ensure abortion procedures safety. The ASA originally only advocated for “medically necessary” abortions, but members of this organization wanted a full repeal to legalize abortion for all -
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Abortion Reform
Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and Washington repealed their abortion bans entirely. 13 other states enacted reforms that expanded exceptions, including if the pregnancy was dangerous for the physical/mental health of a patient, fetal abnormalities, and when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. -
NARAL Established
The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws was established in Chicago. This was the first national group created solely to campaign for the legalization of abortion, making the direct action to repeal abortion bans. -
First Legalization of Abortion
New York state legalized abortions. One day after this law took place a Planned Parenthood in Syracuse became the first Planned Parenthood health center to provide abortion services and the first free-standing abortion center nationwide. Two-thirds of abortions performed in New York were on patients who traveled from other states. -
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Roe v. Wade
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution protects the right to abortion. The Supreme Court also recognized that the right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy”. This Court Case protected the right to abortion in all 50 states, making services safer and more accessible throughout the country. -
Overturn of Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This ruling overturned Roe - ending the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. As a result, one in three women now live in states where abortion is not accessible. In the first few months after this overturn 18 states banned or severely restricted abortion. https://youtu.be/weRVOvLXvok?feature=shared -
Current Abortion Rights Status
15 States have a high restriction on Abortions, meaning abortion is banned at 6 weeks in most of these states. Only 2 States have a most protective label on them meaning abortion is not restricted based on gestational duration.