In the United States, many current abortion laws were derived from the Roe vs. In this decision, the Supreme Court ruled that women have a constitutional right to abort their child. This decision was based on an implied right to personal privacy, emanating from the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments. However, several states have passed laws which challenge this right by making it nearly impossible for women to receive an abortion in their state. .
The current judicial interpretation of the U.S. Constitution regarding abortion in the United States is that abortion is legal but may be restricted by the states to varying degrees. States have passed laws to restrict late term abortions, require parental notification for minors, and mandate the disclosure of abortion risk information to patients prior to the procedure ("Abortion Overview). Although some people may find these restrictions suitable, states should not have the power to establish laws that revoke rights determined by the Constitution in order to prevent women from getting abortions. .
Abortion in the United States was legalized with the political and ethical breakthrough of the Roe vs. Wade case. In Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court declared that a fetus is not a person, but is a potential life, and thus does not have constitutional rights of its own. The court also set up a framework in which the woman's right to abortion and the state's right to protect potential life will shift. During the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman's privacy right is strongest and the state may not regulate abortion for any reason. During the second trimester, the state may regulate abortion only to protect the health of the woman. During the third trimester, the state may regulate or prohibit abortion to promote its interest in the potential life of the fetus, except where abortion is necessary to preserve the woman's life or health ("The Court's Abortion Jurisprudence").
