30 years ago today, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote in the decision:
The Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy. In a line of decisions, however, going back perhaps as far as Union Pacific R. Co. v. Botsford, 141 U. S. 250, 251 (1891), the Court has recognized that a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution…
This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
This evening at 5:30 PM there will be a 30th Anniversary Vigil in front of the U.S. Supreme Court (First Street and Maryland Avenue, NE) in Washington DC. NOW President Kim Gandy says:
On this day, the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, women and men across the United States will honor one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in our history…Today we remember the women who died from illegal abortions; we thank the brave doctors who have risked their own lives to provide full reproductive health services; we applaud the millions who have stood up to protect these rights over the years; and we recognize the gains and contributions women have made in society since they have been able to freely plan their families.