Fact Sheet: Induced Abortion in the US by the Guttmacher Institute
Watch this video to learn more about abortion in the US and women who choose abortion.
Timeline of Abortion Rights in Pennsylvania
1929 Clara Bell Duvall dies from a self-induced abortion, leaving 5 young children motherless
1960 FDA approves birth control pill (legalized for married couples 1965)
1970 Congress funds family planning clinics (Title X)
1973 Roe v. Wade: US Supreme Court legalizes abortion
1974 Pennsylvania legislators enact the first Abortion Control Act
1976 Hyde Amendment bans Medicaid coverage for abortion (includes narrow exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and preserving the life of the woman), setting the precedent that tax dollars can’t be used to fund abortions
1979 Clara Bell Duvall Education Project founded
1985 Pennsylvania ends Medicaid funding for abortion
1989 Protesters blockade clinics repeatedly with 3,000 arrests made
Governor Bob Casey signs the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act
1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey contests the constitutionality of five provisions of the bill, Supreme Court upheld the Abortion Control Act, while reinforcing Roe v. Wade – precedent is provided for other states to systematically and constitutionally restrict women’s access to abortion
1993 Motherless: A Legacy of Loss premieres
President Clinton signs the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Bill to control blockade violence
1994 Restrictions legalized in the Abortion Control Act come into effect
2003 President Bush signs into law the Partial Birth Abortion Ban
2011 Governor Corbett signs SB 732, the TRAP Law requiring facilities to comply with costly, medically unnecessary regulations
2013 Pennsylvania passes HB 818, preventing private insurance companies working through the insurance exchange (as part of the Affordable Care Act) from providing abortion coverage (includes narrow exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and preserving the life of the woman)
