Source+9

Robinson, B. A. "Major U.S. laws concerning abortion." //Religious Tolerance//. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 31 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. .

__Facts:__
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 * abortions after fetal viability must be available if the woman's health or life are at risk; state governments can prohibit other abortions.
 * The Supreme court found that:
 * //"//For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician.//"//
 * "State criminal abortion laws, like those involved here..... violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects against state action the right to privacy//..."//
 * "For the stage subsequent to viability the State, in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life, may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother."
 * //"//For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health//."//
 * A married couple (the "Does") separately attacked the laws on the basis that an accidental pregnancy could find them unprepared for childbearing and could pose a hazard to the wife's health.
 * The Does' appeal was rejected as being too speculative.
 * The Roe v. Wade case involved a pregnant single woman ("Roe") who brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which prohibited any abortion except to save the woman's life.
 * State governments can restrict abortion access after the first trimester with laws intended to protect the woman's health.
 * A woman and her doctor may freely decide to terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester.
 * Subsequent court decisions defined the term "//preservation of health//" very broadly, to include such situations as a woman being suicidaly depressed about being pregnant.
 * There have been many attempts since 1973 to reduce free access to abortions. Laws have been passed by some states and at the federal level to:
 * <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica;">Require counseling and/or a cooling-off period before an abortion is performed.
 * <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica;">Require an underage woman to notify, or obtain permission, from a parent, guardian or court.
 * <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica;">End government financial support for women in poverty who seek abortions.
 * <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica;">Ban abortions after viability of the fetus unless required to preserve the woman's life or health.
 * <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica;">Ban all abortions.
 * <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica;">Ban a D&X abortion procedure, except when performed on a dead fetus or to save the life of the woman.