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40 Basic Rights Women Did Not Have Until The 1970s

Trista June 26, 2019 24 min

Women's rights - Women's liberation movement — Women’s Rights March in the 1970s. Barbara Freeman / Getty Images / Thoughtco.

39. Women Couldn’t Legally Get An Abortion For Any Reason

Gloria Allred with client Norma McCorvey who was Jane Roe in Roe v. Wade) in 1973. Lorie Shaull / Wikimedia Commons.

Legal abortion isn’t only a hot topic today, but it’s been a hot topic for decades. In fact, women weren’t able to legally have an abortion for any reason until 1970 when a college student from Texas known as “Jane Roe” decided to challenge the law. She claimed that she had to right to abortion in her own state. Roe went up against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade in Texas’ Federal Court. While the case started in 1970, it didn’t end until 1973 in Roe’s favor with the Roe Vs. Wade case stating states which ban abortions are unconstitutional.