Abortion in the United States

===Pre-''Roe'' precedents===
In 1964, [[Gerri Santoro]] of Connecticut died trying to obtain an illegal abortion, and her photo became the symbol of an [[Abortion-rights movements|abortion-rights movement]]. Some women's rights activist groups developed their own skills to provide abortions to women who could not obtain them elsewhere. As an example, in Chicago, a group known as "[[Jane Collective|Jane]]" operated a floating abortion clinic throughout much of the 1960s. Women seeking the procedure would call a designated number and be given instructions on how to find "Jane".<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.cwluherstory.org/something-real-jane-and-me-memories-and-exhortations-of-a-feminist-ex-abortionist.html
|title=Something Real: Jane and Me. Memories and Exhortations of a Feminist Ex-Abortionist
|last=Johnson
|first=Linnea
|publisher=CWLU Herstory Project
|access-date=May 23, 2010

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725214230/http://www.cwluherstory.org/something-real-jane-and-me-memories-and-exhortations-of-a-feminist-ex-abortionist.html
|archive-date=July 25, 2011
}}</ref>

In 1965, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] case ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]'' struck down one of the remaining contraception [[Comstock laws]] in [[Connecticut]] and [[Massachusetts]].<ref>{{ussc|name=Griswold v. Connecticut|volume=381|page=479|year=1965}}.</ref> However, ''Griswold'' only applied to marital relationships, allowing married couples to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction. It took until 1972, with ''[[Eisenstadt v. Baird]]'', to extend the precedent of ''Griswold'' to unmarried persons as well.<ref>{{ussc|name=Eisenstadt v. Baird|link=|volume=405|page=438|pin=|year=1972}}.</ref> Following the ''Griswold'' case, the [[American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]] (ACOG) issued a medical bulletin accepting a recommendation from six years earlier that clarified that "conception is the implantation of a fertilized ovum",<ref>American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Terminology Bulletin. Terms Used in Reference to the Fetus. No. 1. Philadelphia: Davis, September 1965.</ref> and consequently [[birth control]] methods that prevented implantation became classified as [[contraceptive]]s, not [[abortifacients]].

In 1967, [[Colorado]] became the first state to decriminalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, or in which pregnancy would lead to permanent physical [[disability]] of the woman. Similar laws were passed in [[California]], [[Oregon]], and [[North Carolina]]. In 1970, [[Hawaii]] became the first state to legalize abortions on the request of the woman,<ref>{{cite news| title=Medicine: Abortion on Request | date=March 9, 1970 | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878789,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201211449/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878789,00.html | archive-date=December 1, 2010 | access-date=October 15, 2012}} {{subscription required}}</ref> and New York repealed its 1830 law and allowed abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy. Similar laws were soon passed in [[Alaska]] and [[Washington (state)|Washington]]. In 1970, Washington held a referendum on legalizing early pregnancy abortions, becoming the first state to legalize abortion through a vote of the people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historylink.org/File/5313|title=Abortion Reform in Washington State - HistoryLink.org|website=Historylink.org|access-date=October 9, 2017}}</ref> A law in [[Washington, D.C.]], which allowed abortion to protect the life or health of the woman, was challenged in the Supreme Court in 1971 in ''[[United States v. Vuitch]]''. The court upheld the law, deeming that "health" meant "psychological and physical well-being", essentially allowing abortion in Washington, D.C. By the end of 1972, 13 states had a law similar to that of Colorado, while [[Mississippi]] allowed abortion in cases of rape or incest only and [[Alabama]] and [[Massachusetts]] allowed abortions only in cases where the woman's physical health was endangered. In order to obtain abortions during this period, women would often travel from a state where abortion was illegal to one where it was legal. The legal position prior to ''Roe v. Wade'' was that abortion was illegal in 30 states and legal under certain circumstances in 20 states.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/22/charts-how-roe-v-wade-changed-abortion-rights/ |title=Charts: How Roe v. Wade changed abortion rights |first=Sarah |last=Kliff |date=January 22, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In the late 1960s, a number of organizations were formed to mobilize opinion both against and for the legalization of abortion. In 1966, the [[National Conference of Catholic Bishops]] assigned Monsignor [[James T. McHugh]] to document efforts to reform abortion laws, and anti-abortion groups began forming in various states in 1967. In 1968, McHugh led an advisory group which became the [[National Right to Life Committee]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYZQBc9426QC&pg=PA140 |page=140 |title=The Politics of Abortion and Birth Control in Historical Perspective |editor=Donald T. Critchlow |chapter=The Right to Life Movement |last=Cassidy |first=Keith |publisher=Penn State Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0271015705 |series=Issues in Policy History}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/prochoicemovemen0000stag_j0h7 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/prochoicemovemen0000stag_j0h7/page/35 35] |title=The Pro-Choice Movement: Organization and Activism in the Abortion Conflict |first=Suzanne |last=Staggenborg |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0195089257}}</ref> The forerunner of the [[NARAL Pro-Choice America]] was formed in 1969 to oppose restrictions on abortion and expand access to abortion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nwhn.org/content-module-example-page/|title=Content Module Example Page|access-date=October 21, 2019|archive-date=February 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124003/https://www.nwhn.org/content-module-example-page/}}</ref> Following ''Roe v. Wade'', in late 1973, NARAL became the National Abortion Rights Action League.