Abortion is, by definition, the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. The issue of abortion is an issue that has, and will always, deeply divide the beliefs of people in the United States, and all over the world. As time has progressed, the idea of abortion has become much more accepted among people, especially in the United States. Abortions were illegal in earlier times in the United States. In 1973, however, a Supreme Court case, known as Roe v Wade, legalized abortions in the United States. This monumental moment marked a new age in the US, and for the first time, gave women the right over their own body. Roe v Wade changed the United States morally, scientifically, and ideologically forever.
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Abortion has always been an issue in the world. Abortion is a topic of discussion that will always be there and will divide people. In an article from The Arizona Republic, in 1986, the writer said, "To some, abortion is a black-or-white issue; to others it's a moral vs. medical question; and other perceive abortion as the rights of the unborn vs. the living." (Collins, 19). In much earlier times, before the Protestant Reformation, Europe was predominantly Catholic. It is a well known fact that the Catholic Church is extremely against abortion, and at that time abortion was an illegal practice, punishable by death. Times changed, and in 1800 it was legal to have an abortion in the United States (Segers and Byrnes, 2). .
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A push for making abortions illegal came in 1821 with an anti-poison statute in Connecticut (Segers and Byrnes, 2). After this, all states began to pass laws making many restrictions on abortion in response to pressure from physicians who did not want competition with midwives (Segers and Byrnes, 2). Therefore, by 1900, every state had passed extremely restrictive laws regarding abortion, and many had made the practice illegal (Segers and Byrnes, 2). .
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The result of such laws was horrible.