Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protected a right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many abortion laws, and caused an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. The decision also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.
The United States is a global outlier among developed countries on the issue of abortion, with the subject being divisible in American politics and culture wars to an extent not found elsewhere. There are widely different abortion laws depending on state.
The Jane Collective or Jane, officially known as the Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation, was an underground service in Chicago, Illinois affiliated with the Chicago Women's Liberation Union that operated from 1969 to 1973, a time when abortion was illegal in most of the United States. The foundation of the organization was laid when Heather Booth helped her friend's sister obtain a safe abortion in 1965. Other women with unwanted pregnancies began to contact Booth after learning via word-of-mouth that she could help them. When the workload became more than what she could manage, she reached out to other activists in the women's liberation movement. The collective sought to address the increasing number of unsafe abortions being performed by untrained providers. Since illegal abortions were not only dangerous but very expensive, the founding members of the collective believed that they could provide women with safer and more affordable access to abortions.
Rich Hill is a 2014 American documentary film co-produced and directed by Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos about Rich Hill, Missouri. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for a documentary.
Abortion: Stories Women Tell is a 2016 American documentary film directed and produced by Tracy Droz Tragos. The film centers on different women on either side of the abortion debate in the state of Missouri. It had its premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival on April 18.
Andrew Droz Palermo, ASC is an American cinematographer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for his work on The Green Knight (2021), A Ghost Story (2017), You're Next (2011), A Teacher (2013), and for directing Rich Hill (2014) and One & Two (2015).
Roe v. Wade is a 2020 American political legal drama film produced, written and directed by Nick Loeb and Cathy Allyn. It serves as a dramatization of the 1973 landmark decision of the same name, rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions.
Abortion in Illinois is legal. Laws about abortion dated to the early 1800s in Illinois; the first criminal penalties related to abortion were imposed in 1827, and abortion itself became illegal in 1867. As hospitals set up barriers in the 1950s, the number of therapeutic abortions declined. Following Roe v. Wade in 1973, Illinois passed a number of restrictions on abortion, many of which have subsequently been repealed. Illinois updated its existing abortion laws in June 2019. The state has seen a decline in the number of abortion clinics over the years, going from 58 in 1982 to 47 in 1992 to 24 in 2014.
Abortion in the District of Columbia is legal at all stages of pregnancy. In 1971, in United States v. Vuitch, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law saying abortion was allowed for health reasons, which include "psychological and physical well-being". Consequently, the District of Columbia became a destination for women seeking abortions starting that year.
As of 2023, Abortion is currently illegal in Indiana, with exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities, to preserve the life and physical health of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest. Previously abortion in Indiana was legal up to 20 weeks; a near-total ban that was scheduled to take effect on August 1 was placed on hold due to further legal challenges, but is set to take place, after the Indiana Supreme Court denied an appeal by the ACLU, and once it certifies a previous ruling, that an abortion ban doesn't violate the state constitution. In the wake of the 2022 Dobbs Supreme Court ruling, abortion in Indiana remained legal despite Indiana lawmakers voting in favor of a near-total abortion ban on August 5, 2022. Governor Eric Holcomb signed this bill into law the same day. The new law became effective on September 15, 2022. But on September 22, 2022, Special Judge Kelsey B. Hanlon of the Monroe County Circuit Court granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the ban. Her ruling allows the state's previous abortion law, which allows abortions up to 20 weeks after fertilization with exceptions for rape and incest, to remain in effect.
Abortion in North Dakota is illegal. The state's sole abortion clinic relocated to Minnesota.
Abortion in Wisconsin has been legal since September 18, 2023, and is performed in Madison and Milwaukee, through 22 weeks gestation. However, elective abortions in Wisconsin are under dispute after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 24, 2022. Abortion opponents cite an 1849 law that they claim bans the procedure in all cases except when the life of the mother is in danger. However, lower level courts have argued that the law only applies to infanticide and not consensual abortions. The enforceability of the law is disputed and being considered by the state courts. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that they would resume abortion services in Madison and Milwaukee on September 18, 2023.
Abortion in Wyoming is currently legal due to a temporary court injunction.
The Fight is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Eli Despres, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg. Kerry Washington serves as a producer under her Simpson Street banner. It follows legal battles that lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had faced during the Trump administration.
Call Jane is a 2022 American drama film starring Elizabeth Banks as a suburban housewife in the 1960s who deals with a life-threatening pregnancy and subsequently joins the Jane Collective, an underground network of abortion activists. The film also stars Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards, and John Magaro. It is directed by Phyllis Nagy. The screenplay was written by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), returning to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law.
Plan C is a non-profit organization and campaign that provides educational resources and information to increase access to medication abortion in the United States. It was founded in 2015 by Francine Coeytaux, Elisa Wells, and Amy Merrill as a project under the fiscal sponsorship of the National Women's Health Network.
The Janes is a 2022 American documentary film. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022, and was released on HBO Max on June 8, the month after a leaked draft opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was released, starting protests across the United States. The film was directed by Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin.
Mayday Health is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that educates on medication abortion and how to access it in the United States. It was founded in 2022 in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson (2022) court decision that limited access to abortion in many U.S. states. Mayday educates on self-managed abortion and does not sell or distribute the abortion pill. Mayday was founded after the leak of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). The organization launched on the day of the Dobbs decision.
Tracy Droz Tragos is an American documentary filmmaker. She is known for her documentary films Rich Hill, Abortion: Stories Women Tell, and Plan C.
