As of January, thirty years have passed since the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, in which the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion. In the intervening three decades, that decision has proven to be one of the most controversial rulings of our time, and abortion rights have undergone near-constant challenge and revision from private parties, state governments, and federal lawmakers. Here's a look at the recent history of abortion rights, the current law regarding abortion, and the most recent trends among American women of reproductive age.

The Evolution of Abortion Law
Though Roe v. Wade marks the beginning of the abortion issue in many minds, the truth is that abortion has been a topic of national debate since the early nineteenth century, when many states began outlawing the practice. By 1880 the procedure was criminalized in every state. Questions of legality aside, many women resorted to illegal and dangerous abortions as a means of terminating their unwanted pregnancies, resulting in high rates of maternal mortality as many women died during the procedures.

It wasn't until the 1970s that serious efforts to legalize abortion got underway, and in 1973 the Supreme Court ruled by a margin of 7-2 (in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton) that the fundamental constitutional right to privacy encompassed a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy before the time when a fetus could survive outside of her body. Throughout the seventies, the high court struck down numerous challenges to this ruling, including an attempt to give a husband the power to overrule his pregnant wife's decision to abort. (Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, 1976.)

Then, in 1980, the Supreme Court upheld Congress's first significant national abortion restriction, which made it illegal to use federal Medicaid funds for abortions, unless a woman's life was threatened by her pregnancy. (Medicaid is the federal-state health insurance system for the poor and disabled.) For the next two decades, from the 1980's through the late 90's, the Court considered many state restrictions on abortion, including mandatory waiting periods, parental consent and notification laws for people under the age of 18, and mandatory counseling. Many of these restrictions are still being negotiated in state and federal courts and legislatures today.

The Policy and Politics Surrounding Abortion Right Now
With all of the state rulings that continue to come down the pike, and the many court challenges to these rulings, it can be hard to keep up with the status of abortion laws today. Here's a quick look at some of the current policies that affect patients:

·43 states have passed requirements that a young woman under the age of 18 must notify or get the consent of one or both of her parents before she is legally entitled to seek an abortion.

·32 states will provide funding for abortions only under specific conditions, generally when a woman's life is endangered or the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest. ·22 states have passed requirements that women delay their abortions for a set number of hours (usually at least a full day or more), and receive state-specified counseling during this waiting period. ·In the last seven years, three bills have been passed by the Congress outlawing so-called "partial birth abortions," which refer to one specific method of abortion used after the first trimester of pregnancy in a very small number of cases. Former President Clinton vetoed this legislation each time it got to his desk. The current proposed ban, which is being sponsored by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, has President Bush's support.

Current Abortion Rates on the Decline
While abortion remains one of the most common surgical procedures in the U.S., the overall number of abortions being performed is falling; in fact, the years between 1994 and 2000 saw a decrease of 11%. Declines in abortion rates among teenagers are especially dramatic. For example, among 15-17 year olds, the rate of abortions has fallen 39% over that six-year period. These numbers are in keeping with the teen pregnancy rate, which is also on the decline. Researchers have found that 75% of this decrease is due to improved contraceptive use, and the remaining 25% is due to delayed sexual activity.

Teenagers account for about 19% of women having abortions; 33% are between the ages of 20 and 24; and 48% are aged 25 and older. It is estimated that 43% of women in the U.S. will have an abortion by age 45.

Public Opinion Today
All you have to do is open a newspaper or watch the nightly news to know that the American public is extremely divided-sometimes bitterly so-on the subject of abortion. Recent national surveys show that 58% of Americans (i.e. a majority) believe that abortion rights should remain as they are or be loosened, rather than tightened. More than a quarter of Americans (28%) believe that abortion should be legal under all circumstances, while 19% believe it should be illegal under all circumstances, and a very slim majority (51%) favor legalized abortion only under certain circumstances.