The ALI, or, the American Law Institute, release the “First Draft of its Model Penal Code”, on May 21st, 1959. It’s the first action to abortion law reform by a reputable national group. The draft suggested changing state abortion laws to allow abortions in instances of rape, health of the mother (including mental health), deformity of fetus, and other extreme circumstances.

Connecticut had passed a law in 1879 banning any and all forms of contraceptives. 82 years later, Estelle Griswold knowingly opens a birth control clinic and begins giving married couples birth control, consulting them, and informing them on contraceptives. Griswold does this in order to challenge the 1879 law. In court, it is ruled 7-2 that the constitution protects the privacy of married couples, and the contraceptives ban is unconstitutional. 

Colorado and California become the first to reform their abortion laws, as recommended in the ALI Penal Code. Other states soon follow in the coming years.

In a case against a physician who was thought to have provided an abortion to a woman, the State of Texas claims specifically that it is dedicated to protect fetal life. The court upheld the physician's conviction. 

U.S Supreme Court rules that unmarried individuals have the right to contraceptives (a right married couples already had under Griswold v. Connecticut). 

1968 Georgia abortion laws had made abortions extremely difficult to get. The criteria for a woman to receive an abortion at a public hospital were:

·     There is physical evidence and documents proving the woman was raped OR

·     The life of the woman or fetus was in serious danger. 

​

If a woman met one or more of these criteria, then she had to go through the following steps:

·     The woman must confirm with three different physicians that she is meets the criteria to receive an abortion.

·     The woman’s physician must submit her case to a committee within the hospital who decides if the abortion is approved.

Even after this, relatives or lawyers could bring the woman to court, in which case she would have to wait for the opinion of a judge.

In 1970, Sandra Bensing was denied an abortion in public hospitals. She went to court to challenge these abortion laws under the name “Mary Doe”. The court eventually agreed that under Griswold v. Connecticut, women had a right to privacy, and therefore could receive abortions before the Second Trimester. However, many restrictions came with it. Doe’s team appealed, hoping to remove all the restrictions and limits. Roe v. Wade became Doe v. Bolton’s companion case. Eventually, the two are decided by the Supreme Court on the same day in January of 1973. The court upholds the right of privacy based on the 14th amendment, and abortion becomes legal until the age of viability. 

Roe v. Wade was under many of the same circumstances as Doe v. Bolton. In Roe v. Wade, Jane Roe, AKA Norma McCorvey, was a 21-year-old pregnant woman looking for an abortion. Sarah Weddington takes on the Texas abortion laws with Norma as the plaintiff. Weddington argues that under the 14th amendment, women have a right to liberty and to privacy, and abortion should be 100% legal with no restrictions. Wade, the defendant, aims to protect fetal life at time of conception. In the end, the court rules that unborn are not seen as persons according to the constitution. They rule that women have a right to privacy and therefore a right to abortions. However, they add that states could put limitations on the abortions. 

Missouri law had introduced a series of limitations on abortion. It defined life as beginning at conception, and prohibited public funding, employees, and facilities from use for abortions. Other restrictions included a law that said the chance of the child’s survival outside the womb must be calculated and told to the woman. The Supreme Court and the lower courts both rule that the laws are constitutional, and that the state has the right to uphold these limitations.