The Supreme Court Ruling That Changed Everything

For nearly fifty years, the Roe v. Wade ruling established a national right to abortion based on the U.S. Constitution. This 1973 decision fundamentally reshaped American law until it was finally overturned in 2022.

The court originally ruled that the Constitution protected a woman's right to choose an abortion before a fetus could survive outside the womb. This sparked decades of intense political debate over morality, religion, and the proper role of the judiciary. The case remained a central fault line in American culture until the 2022 Dobbs decision shifted that authority back to individual states. It stands today as one of the most significant and debated legal pivots in history.