Changes

== Social Context & Legislation ==

This change didn’t occur within a vacuum, however. In the late 19th century, targeting abortions and abortion providers—like midwives and “irregulars”—occurred within the context of the professionalization of the medical field. Individuals like Dr. Horatio Storer attempted to legitimate themselves as professional medical men, and they did so at others’ expense. In claiming that pregnancy and childbirth were not natural events, where women and midwives could maintain authority, they argued that pregnancy and childbirth were medical conditions requiring physician intervention.

Furthermore, this new generation of physicians declared that abortion represented women’s selfishness and “antenatal infanticide in an era marked by concerns about race suicide and white women’s reproductive rates.

Nevertheless, it was not until ''Roe v. Wade'' in 1973 that the United States Supreme Court ultimately settled the issue. Jane Roe, a Texas resident, sought to terminate her pregnancy but Texas only allowed abortions in cases when a woman’s life was in danger. In the case, Roe’s attorneys argued that the Texas abortion statute was vague, and that it violated a woman’s constitutional rights.

The ''Roe'' decision gave women autonomy over their pregnancies during the first trimester, and allowed states to regulate or restrict abortions during the second and third trimester. As a result, abortion statutes in the remanding states were struck down and determined to be unconstitutional.