CHART: 40 years later, Roe v. Wade is still under siege

Last year, 43 provisions in 19 states sought to restrict access to abortion

Dana Liebelson

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to protect a woman's right to have an abortion in her first trimester, citing the constitutional right to privacy. But now, the pro-abortion-rights Americans who fought to win the landmark Roe v. Wade decision might not recognize today's bruised-and-battered version of the law.

It began in 1992, when the Supreme Court gave states more power to regulate abortion, choosing to judge laws by whether they placed an "undue burden" on the mother, rather than the more rigorous "strict scrutiny" standard. Since then, many clinics that provide abortions have been forced to shutter their doors, and women who seek legal abortions face significant obstacles like waiting periods, mandatory ultrasounds, a lack of insurance coverage, and false medical claims. (North Dakota, for instance, requires doctors to warn patients about the supposed breast cancer risk of having an abortion. That claim has been proven false by the National Cancer Institute, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.)

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Dana Liebelson is a reporter for Mother Jones. A graduate of George Washington University, she has worked for a variety of advocacy organizations in the District, including the Project on Government Oversight, International Center for Journalists, Rethink Media, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Change.org. She speaks Mandarin and German and plays violin in the D.C.-based Indie rock band Bellflur.