Understanding the Abortion Debate: Home

These sources are primers on the history of the abortion debate in the United States:

• "The History of Abortion Rights in the U.S." (7-minute listen from NPR)
• "America's Abortion Quandary" (from the Pew Research Center)
• "What is Roe v. Wade?" (from PBS News Hour)
• "Quick Facts You Should Know About Roe v. Wade" (from the New York Times)
• "7 Persistent Claims about Abortion, Fact-Checked" (from NPR)
• "Fact Sheet: Abortion Rights and the Supreme Court" (from VERIFY)

Roe v. Wade (Decided January 22, 1973)

"Inherent in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is a fundamental “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s choice whether to have an abortion. However, this right is balanced against the government’s interests in protecting women's health and protecting “the potentiality of human life.” The Texas law challenged in this case violated this right." (Source: Oyez)

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (Argued December 1, 2021; draft opinion leaked May 2, 2022)

"Is Mississippi’s law banning nearly all abortions after 15 weeks’ gestational age unconstitutional?" (Source: Oyez)

Read Justice Alito's leaked initial draft opinion (Politico)

Pro-Choice Organizations

Pro-Life Organizations

Definition: 

An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is done by a licensed health care professional. (Medline Plus)

This infographic shows the predicted status of legal abortion in each state if Roe v. Wade is overturned. (Source: Brookings, with data provided by the Guttmacher Institute).

What will be the policy in your state if Roe v. Wade is overturned? Use this tool from the Guttmacher Institute to find your state's abortion policy fact sheet. 

A quick video on the future of state abortion laws from VERIFY.

These articles about the various sides of the abortion debate can be accessed on campus. For off-campus access use the remote access login information found here for the Points of View database.