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AbortionLawTimeline.appFooter = "Source: FindLaw; MSNBC Research";
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AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that overturned all state laws outlawing abortion, came from a legal understanding of the individual right to privacy from government interference, an idea not explicitly stated in the Constitution but inferred, according to a line of high court decisions, from the Bill of Rights. Since Roe v. Wade, numerous court cases concerning the right to abortion, parental consent, the right to public funding and others have played a role in shaping current laws on abortion rights and the right to privacy. Click the buttons below for an overview of abortion in the courts.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Title X: 1970","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
Federal funding for family-planning programs is made possible with passage of Title X of the Public Health Services Act.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Eisenstadt v. Baird: March 22, 1972","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
The Supreme Court cites the Fourteenth Amendment in ruling that it is unconstitutional to prohibit unmarried adults from obtaining contraceptives. “If the right of privacy means anything,” the majority opinion in Eisenstadt v. Baird read, “it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.\" ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Roe v. Wade: Jan 22, 1973","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court strikes down a Texas law prohibiting abortion. Roe v. Wade, which cites a constitutional right to privacy outlined in Einsenstadt v. Baird, overturns all state laws outlawing abortion. The decision also says that a fetus does not qualify as a “person” under the Fourteenth Amendment and that states cannot impose restrictions based on theories of when life begins.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danfort: July 1, 1976","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danfort, the Supreme Court rules against a state law requiring a husband’s consent to his wife's decision to get an abortion. The ruling says that such a requirement would grant a third party too much power.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Hyde Amendment: September 1976","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
Congress passes the Hyde Amendment, which limits federal funding of abortions through Medicaid to instances where the mother’s life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Three cases: June 20, 1977","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
The Supreme Court upholds the restriction on public funding for abortions in three cases: Maher v. Roe, Beal v. Doe and Poelker v. Doe. In Maher v. Roe, the court rules that although the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment may provide the grounds for the government to provide for childbirth expenses, it does not necessarily mean that public money should cover abortions. ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Bellotti v. Baird (Belotti II): July 2, 1979","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
The Supreme Court strikes down Bellotti v. Baird (Bellotti II), a Massachusetts law requiring parental and court consent for a minor to have an abortion. The ruling results in a framework under which any requirement for parental involvement would need to allow for an alternative where the minor would be entitled to a waiver if she was mature enough to make the decision, or if an abortion would be in her best interest. ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Harris v. McRae: June 30, 1980","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In Harris v. McRae, another case involving public funding for abortion, the Supreme Court rules that “a woman's freedom of choice [does not carry] with it a constitutional entitlement to the financial resources to avail herself of the full range of protected choices.\" ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","\"Global Gag Rule\": 1984","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
The Reagan administration bans giving U.S. funds to foreign nongovernmental organizations that use any money, from the U.S. or elsewhere, to support \"abortion-related activities.\" The policy is known as the \"Global Gag Rule\".";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists: June 11, 1986","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Supreme Court strikes down a Pennsylvania law requiring a women seeking an abortion to sit through a government-scripted lecture by her doctor before having an abortion, and for abortion providers to notify the state with the names of performing and referring physicians as well as details concerning the patient.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Webster v. Reproductive Health Services: July 3, 1989","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, the Supreme Court votes 5-4 in support of a Missouri ban on the use of public employees and facilities for performing abortions, except where necessary to save a woman's life. ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Rust v. Sullivan: May 23, 1991","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In an extension of prior court rulings, the Supreme Court votes 5-4 in Rust v. Sullivan in support of a regulation prohibiting recipients of family planning funds under Title X of the Public Health Service Act from providing counseling for abortions. The ruling is based on the court's finding that such a regulation does not violate freedom of speech or the right to privacy. The court also upholds provisions barring Title X projects from engaging in activities that \"encourage, promote or advocate abortion as a method of family planning.\" ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey: June 29, 1992","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the Supreme Court strikes down a state provision requiring that a husband be notified if his wife is having an abortion, but upholds the law's 24-hour waiting period, required parental consent and the requirement that patients receive materials outlining alternatives to abortion.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","RU-486: 2000","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
The FDA approves mifepristone, the abortion pill RU-486.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","Stenberg v. Carhart: June 28, 2000","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
The Supreme Court strikes down a Nebraska ban on \"partial-birth abortion,\" finding it an unconstitutional violation of Roe. v. Wade. The court's decision renders similar bans in more than 30 states unconstitutional or unenforceable. ";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","\"Global Gag Rule\" reinstated: 2001","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
President George W. Bush reinstates the Global Gag rule by executive order on his first day in office. The Clinton Adminstration had previously ended the Reagan-era rule in 1993 by executive order.";
AbortionLawTimeline[i++] = new Array("","\"Partial birth\" ban: 2003","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
AbortionLawTimeline[i-1].body = "
Congress passes and Bush signs the \"Partial Birth\" Abortion Ban. The bill does not include an exception in the case of saving a woman’s life.
";
// END editorial data