Roe v. Wade: Celebrating 37 Years of Reproductive Rights!
January 22nd, 2010 marks 37 years since Roe v. Wade secured a women's right to privacy and choice. Please read more about the history of Roe v. Wade and women's reproductive rights!
Publication: Planned Parenthood Federation of America
"Roe v. Wade: A Victory for Women
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, recognizing the constitutional right to privacy and women's right to choose abortion.
Planned Parenthood's efforts to protect state encroachments against access and client confidentiality, especially for minors, are also largely successful:
* In 1976, in a case brought by Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down state requirements for parental and spousal consent before women obtain an abortion.
* In subsequent cases over the next three years, the Supreme Court rules that prohibiting the sale or distribution of contraceptives to persons under 16 is unconstitutional and that if states require minors to obtain parental consent for an abortion, they must also give minors the alternative of obtaining the consent of a judge, in confidential proceedings - a so-called "judicial bypass."
To underscore the importance of birth control access to teens, the Guttmacher Institute, an independent research institute established in 1968 by Planned Parenthood, publishes 11 Million Teenagers, the first nationally distributed document to focus attention on the problem of teen pregnancy and childbearing in the United States."