Roe v. Wade

(noun)

A 1973 landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion, in which it ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting women's health. Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the trimester of pregnancy.

Related Terms

Examples of Roe v. Wade in the following topics:

  • Battles in the Courts and Congress

    • Though the far-right of the Republican Party was dissatisfied by O'Connor, who refused to condemn the Roe v.
    • Wade decision on that legalized abortion and supported the federal Equal Rights Amendment, Senate Republicans and the vast majority of Americans approved the pick, and she was confirmed unanimously by the Senate.
    • However, general adherence to the principle of stare decisis, along with minority support, left most of the major landmark case decisions (such as Brown, Miranda, and Roe v.
    • Wade) of the previous three decades still standing as binding precedent.

  • Second-Wave Feminism

    • Military Academies to admit women, and many Supreme Court cases, perhaps most notably Reed v.
    • Reed of 1971 and Roe v.
    • Wade of 1973.

  • The Sexual Revolution

    • Birth control was legalized following the Supreme Court ruling in Griswold v.
    • Connecticut in 1965, while the Roe v.
    • Wade decision in 1973 legalized abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy.