What impact did the ruling of Roe v. Wade have on society?

Answer 1

Direct Answer: This controversial ruling struck down many of the legal restrictions that were (at that time) in place against abortion. It is hard to estimate the impact of the ruling itself, since it was tied in with a number of much broader movements: the sexual revolution, women's rights movement, feminism, and civil rights more generally. However, for a period of perhaps 100 years prior - beginning in the late 19th century and ending with RvW - abortion was a felony in most states in the US, punishable by fine or imprisonment. This meant that women who became pregnant were legally obligated to bring the child to term regardless of the conditions of their life or how they came to be pregnant. The only exceptions were for imminent risk to the woman's life. Abortions were still carried out despite the legal restrictions, but (because of the risks to those doing the abortions, who could also be jailed), abortions were often done secretively and without proper medical procedures. This carried an unfortunately high rate of medical problems, either from the treatment itself or from post-treatment infection, which could sometimes lead to permanent reproductive damage or even death. Some have connected abortion with increases in sexual promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, and other social ills, though this is probably a function of the sexual revolution more generally, which legitimized non-marital sexuality and created an open environment for discussions and depictions of sexuality in media (such as advertising and entertainment). Frankly, the risk of pregnancy (despite what people may say) has never been much of a deterrent to sexual activity in people of any age. The debate over abortion has become a significant cultural phenomenon in its own right, with an impact on election campaigns and public policy nationwide, though it has generally focused on the question of rights (the rights of the mother against the rights of an unborn child) rather than on questions of sexuality.

Moral considerations: The right to an abortion was seen as one of the lynch-pins of the women's rights movement not because abortion was needed as a form of contraception - there were many contraceptives available at the time, as there are today - but because abortion was seen as a necessary 'last-ditch' safeguard against a woman being forced to have a child against her will. Contraceptives might fail or be sabotaged, sexual intercourse might be forced, living conditions might make raising a child an untenable burden; all of these cases can result in a woman being reduced (to use the feminist's terminology) to a form of chattel slavery, in which she must dedicate her life to caring for a child she neither asked for nor wanted. The moral/ethical conflict, thus, lies between the inherent right any individual has to be free (which is well-established in moral and legal codes) and the right of an unborn individual to live (highly contentious uncharted territory, since the various religious and medical opinions can not agree at what point an unborn child becomes a living being). The most conservative opinions hold that a child becomes a living being at conception (which would make any abortion a form of murder); more common opinions believe fetuses become living beings when they begin to move (usually at the end of the first trimester, which is what current law and practice use); some religious beliefs go so far as to hold that a child is not a living being until it draws its first breath (which is the standard that most US courts use to distinguish between the crime of late-term abortion and the much more serious crime of infanticide, in cases where newborns are found dead).