Roe v. Wade

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Roe v. Wade

law case

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jan 7, 2025 • Article History

Quick Facts

Date:: 1973 - 2022

Location:: United States

Key People:: Harry A. Blackmun; Sarah Weddington; Norma McCorvey

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Study reveals rising interest in permanent contraception after Roe v. Wade reversal • Jan. 6, 2025, 10:02 AM ET (Medical Xpress)

Abortions are up in the US. It's a complicated picture as women turn to pills, travel • Dec. 28, 2024, 1:47 PM ET (AP)

Supreme Court to weigh state moves to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood • Dec. 18, 2024, 3:15 PM ET (AP)

The fate of the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council is uncertain in Trump's administration • Dec. 18, 2024, 1:34 PM ET (AP)

Texas' abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine • Dec. 13, 2024, 7:43 PM ET (AP)

Roe v. Wade, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973, ruled (7–2) that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. In a majority opinion written by Justice Harry A. Blackmun, the Court held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a constitutional right to privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (“…nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”). Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme ...(100 of 772 words)

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