Abortion law

Abortion law comprises the legal rules governing whether and how pregnancy may be terminated, who may provide abortion care, and how it is regulated.

Gestational limit: A legal or clinical threshold, usually measured in weeks of pregnancy, after which an abortion is restricted or treated differently. Many laws permit abortion only before a specified point in pregnancy.
Abortion rights: Legal protections that secure a person's ability to obtain an abortion. Rights-based frameworks establish protections that restrictions may limit.
Roe v. Wade: The 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that recognized a constitutional right to abortion under a privacy rationale. It shaped U.S. abortion law for nearly half a century.
Abortion access: The practical ability to obtain abortion care, shaped by legal, geographic, financial, and medical conditions. Legal permission does not guarantee that care is practically available.
Interstate abortion conflict: Legal disputes over whether one jurisdiction may investigate or punish conduct related to abortion obtained in another. Divergent regional rules raise questions about jurisdiction and enforcement.
Parental consent for abortion: A legal requirement that a minor obtain permission from a parent or guardian before receiving an abortion. Some jurisdictions make parental involvement a condition of a minor's access.
Abortion ban: A law that prohibits abortion, either broadly or under specified circumstances. A ban is the most restrictive form of abortion regulation.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey: The 1992 United States Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed abortion protection before viability and adopted the undue-burden standard. Its standard governed many challenges to U.S. abortion restrictions before 2022.
Abortion travel: Travel across local, regional, or national borders to obtain abortion care unavailable where a person lives. Uneven laws can make crossing a border necessary to obtain care.
Fetal personhood: The claim that an embryo or fetus has legal personhood or rights distinct from those of the pregnant person. Personhood claims can reshape the legal status of abortion and pregnancy.

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