Abortion refers to the deliberate termination of a pregnancy. Most feminists, and many of those who would not necessarily identify as such, argue that a woman should have autonomy over her own body, including the right to decide whether to continue with a pregnancy. This view is strongly contested by those broadly classified as ‘pro life’, who argue that, from the moment of conception, a foetus has a right to life. Feelings are very strong on both sides of the debate, especially in the USA.
In 1973, in a ruling known as Roe vs. Wade (the names of those on opposing sides of the case) the US Supreme Court decreed, by a vote of seven to two, that the right of governments to prohibit abortion was unconstitutional, and thus abortion became legal throughout the USA. However, the arguments did not go away. In another historic judgement, in June 2022, in what is known as the Dobbs ruling, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade and gave the power to limit or prohibit abortion to individual states.
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