Roe

As I watch the news about Roe, I get the feeling that many people are not familiar with how the court operates. Prior to Roe states had different rules for abortion but the majority of states (30) banned abortions for any reason. This was the rule for 176 years, then in 1973 Roe made abortions legal any time before the fetus was determined to be viable outside of the womb and that was deemed to be 24 to 28 weeks. States could then determine the legality of abortions that time, which came to be called late term abortions. As time passed this changed to abortions becoming legal at any time and in some cases the the baby could be killed after delivery. Roe has now been reversed and the rules will once again be determined by the states. It is unfortunate that cooler heads did not prevail and come to a compromise position. Most (61%) feel abortion should be legal in the first trimester but only (19%) in the third. Abortions based on rape or incest would happen early in the first trimester. 90% of abortions occur before week 12 and most of these are for economic reasons. The number of abortions have been on the decline for 30 years and that coincides with the development of the abortion pill so it is difficult to get data on how many abortions have not been counted during these years. These pill can be obtained from your personal physician without anyone knowing. The use of these pills will likely continue to rise with this new ruling.