In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision in Roe v. Wade that would become arguably the most controversial decision of the twentieth century. Using the concept of privacy and the belief that individuals should be able to make important decisions about their own lives, the Court determined that only a pregnant woman and her medical care provider should be involved in a decision to end a pregnancy within the first three months. States were given the right to limit abortions at any time thereafter. The decision resulted in battle lines being formed, and Pro-Choice and Pro-Life advocates, as they came to be known, engaged in a decades-long struggle to control the reproductive rights of American women.

Before Roe v. Wade, only four states and Washington, D.C., provided easy access to abortion. All other states limited access to some...