A Generation of Roe v. Wade and the Threat to Women’s Health

The recent overturn of Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)–which laid the foundations for women’s autonomy in the healthcare system–has created barriers to abortions and OB-GYN health services similar to those that women fifty years ago experienced. The campaign to criminalize and ban abortion was formed in 1847 by the American Medical Association [1]. By 1910, abortion was illegal nationwide; it was not until the late 1960s that abortion reform began [1]. Hawaii, New York, Washington, and Alaska were the first states to legalize abortion beginning in 1970. [1]. Similarly, 13 states expanded their laws to allow abortion in special circumstances, but 33 states still banned abortion [2]. Yet, these expansions left gaps in healthcare coverage. 

Even with expanding abortion laws, only privileged groups could exercise these rights. Wealthy white women were the majority, as they “accounted for over three-quarters of all abortions” in 1973 [3]. Wealthy women could afford to fight for access to hospital abortions in court or could gain approval for an abortion if they proved that their pregnancy would endanger their life or physical or mental health [4]. Anyone with money could also travel across the country to receive an abortion [5]. Many people chose to go to New York–a hotspot for abortions since its legalization in 1970 [6]. Two years after New York legalized abortions, “more than 400,000 abortions were performed in the state”; almost two-thirds were for women who did not live in the state [6]. Pamela Mason is one example of this [6]. As a college freshman living in Ohio in 1971, she could not have the procedure in that state, as it was heavily restricted [6]. Therefore, at ten weeks gestation, she “scraped together enough money [$150] to drive to New York City” as recommended to her by a clinic near her university [6]. It is important to note that she was only able to do this because it was 500 miles from Ohio; had she lived further west, this may not have been a viable option for her [6]. However, not everyone could afford a legal procedure. 

The expensive costs of travel and bans or restrictions in a majority of states forced women to find alternative methods of abortion, which further jeopardized their health. For many women who did not have access to legal abortion, they turned to self-induction [7]. This included purposely falling down stairs, ingesting poison, or using instruments, such as hangers or knitting needles, to attempt to induce an abortion [7]. In fact, self-inductions were so common that “hospitals had entire wards dedicated to caring for women suffering from health complications due to self-inductions[5]. For those who did not choose to perform a self-induced abortion, they turned to illegal, unregulated markets. That is why by 1965 “17 percent of all deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth were the result of illegal abortion” [8]. These illegal abortions entailed finding a provider who could perform the procedure safely, but criminally [7]. This risked the careers of professionals and the possible imprisonment of women [7]. Nonetheless, women turned to this solution rather than being forced to carry out their pregnancy. 

By the late 1960s, organizations were formed to help find safe alternatives for women [5]. The Clergy Consultation Service of Abortion helped start a referral service to access safe illegal abortions [5]. Similarly, the Abortion Counseling Service of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union founded an underground abortion service that provided “safe, inexpensive, and supportive illegal abortions” [5]. The organization posted phone numbers on bulletin boards that read “Pregnant, call Jane” around Chicago [2]. Through a channel of safe houses, the “Janes” were able to provide more than 11,000 abortions to women in their first and second trimesters; their safety was comparable to current legal medical facilities [5]. Yet, this was not the only illegal form of abortion. Another way women received abortions was by traveling outside the United States to access the procedure. Amna Nawaz, for example, had a foreign abortion in her twenties when she had an unplanned pregnancy [2]. She had to travel to a clinic in Puerto Rico because they were illegal in the state of New York [9]. 

Even with access to successful, illegal abortions, the ban and restrictions on abortions harmed women’s mental health. For example, Roberta Brandes Gratz, a journalist, remembers her own abortion [2]. During her operation, the anesthetic “didn’t take well” making her experience “partially painful” [2]. To make matters worse, she said “It was humiliating because I knew I was doing something illegal” [2]. Despite these tolls, “humiliation, agony and the risk of sterility or death [did] not deter American women from ending an average of one out of every five pregnancies by abortion” [9]. 

Women prior to 1973 exemplified the danger to women’s health and autonomy with the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Even with barriers to abortion, women will find a way to access it, even if it is unsafe or illegal. The fight for women’s reproductive rights is not over. In reflection on what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund said, 

“While this Roe Anniversary marks a reminder of what we’ve lost, this is also a reminder that, as reproductive justice parents have long said, Roe was always the floor–not the ceiling–and now we must reimagine what is possible for our communities.” [10]. 

This vision of hope is much needed, as there is a lot of work for the United States to do in order to reinstate proper measures to protect the fundamental rights and safety of women. As a country, we must remember what women endured before Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey to provide equal access to reproductive rights and build off of the foundations of those rulings to create a more equitable system.

By Catherine Kunz

Work Cited

1. Historical abortion law timeline: 1850 to Today. Planned Parenthood Action Fund. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/abortion-central-history-reproductive-health-care-america/historical-abortion-law-timeline-1850-today
2. Nawaz, A., Buhre, M. L., & Quran, L. (2022, June 21). Women reflect on what life was like before Roe v. Wade. PBS. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/women-reflect-on-what-life-was-like-before-roe-v-wade
3. Kliff, S. (2021, November 25). Charts: How Roe v. Wade changed abortion rights. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/22/charts-how-roe-v-wade-changed-abortion-rights/ 
4. A brief history of abortion in the U.S. Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://magazine.jhsph.edu/2022/brief-history-abortion-us 
5. The history of abortion law in the United States. Our Bodies Ourselves Today. (2023, March 24). Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/u-s-abortion-history/ 
6. Jacobs, J. (2018, July 19). Remembering an era before Roe, when New York had the ‘most liberal’ abortion law. The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/politics/new-york-abortion-roe-wade-nyt.html 
7. NPR. (2019, May 20). What abortion was like in the U.S. before Roe v. Wade. NPR. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/725139713/what-abortion-was-like-in-the-u-s-before-roe-v-wade 
8. Roe v. Wade: Its History and Impact – Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/3013/9611/5870/Abortion_Roe_History.pdf   
9. Stevens, E. (2022, June 24). When abortions were illegal and how women got them anyway. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/06/24/illegal-abortions-before-roe-dc/  
10. Spillar, K. (2023, January 22). Feminists react: 50 years after Roe, the fight is far from over. Ms. Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://msmagazine.com/2023/01/21/feminists-react-50-years-after-roe/