In 1973, the case of “Jane Roe”, a pseudonym used by a woman who wanted to legally terminate her pregnancy, versus Henry Wade, district attorney of Dallas, was decided. The Supreme Court ruled that women are able to choose whether or not they receive an abortion without bans from the government, a landmark decision that in 2021 is once again being brought up. So what is the public’s opinion on this 50 year old lawsuit, and why is it once again being brought to light?

After Roe v. Wade was passed, people all over the country were given access to safe abortions, and this prevented many deaths from illegal and dangerous abortions. Abortion “has a safety record of over 99%” and “illegal abortions caused at least 1 in 6 pregnancy-related deaths” (Planned Parenthood). However, in recent years, as Donald Trump entered the presidential position, a number of Supreme Court Justices have historically been anti-abortion and ruled against access to terminating pregnancies. Many people refer to individuals against abortion as “pro-life”, and people for access to abortion as “pro-choice”. There recently have been several efforts to present abortion bans and overturn the decision made in Roe v. Wade, although more than 75% of Americans support the decision made in the case. One specific ban that is gathering a great amount of attention is the Texas Heartbeat Act. This act was proposed earlier in the year and took effect in the beginning of September. The act bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and/or “cardiac activity” can be seen. The law gives extremely limited exceptions to the cause of the pregnancy, and it is very common for women to not even detect their pregnancy by the six week time frame. Individuals that provide abortion and are involved in the process (cover the cost of the procedure, drive the woman to the abortion) can also be sued; all these factors lead to this ban becoming one of the most strict bans in the country currently. Since the introduction of this law in Texas, several other states have followed up with their own versions of the Heartbeat Act and legal groups have worked to protest this ban. As of right now, if the Texas ban grows stronger, Roe v. Wade’s decision may come into question in a Supreme Court setting and change the face of abortion laws throughout the country.