Abortion and the Law in America audiobook cover - Roe v. Wade to the Present

Abortion and the Law in America

Roe v. Wade to the Present

Mary Ziegler

★ 4.4 / 5(132 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
PoliticsHistorySociety & Culture

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to Abortion and the Law in America — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Abortion and the Law in America

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Abortion and the Law in America

Mind Map

Abortion and the Law in America
Core Framework of the Debate+
Pre-Roe History (1800s-1960s)+
Roe v. Wade & The 1970s+
1980s & 1990s Evolution+
The War on Science (Late 90s-00s)+
Modern Era & Future Outlook+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
What is Mary Ziegler's main argument regarding the evolution of the American abortion conflict since Roe v. Wade?
  • A. It has remained strictly focused on the constitutional rights of the fetus versus the mother.
  • B. It has increasingly shifted toward policy-based claims debating the costs and benefits of abortion.
  • C. It has been largely resolved through bipartisan compromises in state legislatures.
  • D. It has moved away from legal arguments entirely to focus solely on religious doctrine.
Question 2 of 8
According to the text, what was a primary driver for the criminalization of abortion in some US states by 1880?
  • A. Advancements in fetal ultrasound technology that changed public perception.
  • B. The establishment of the National Right to Life Committee.
  • C. Racial anxieties concerning the plummeting birth rates of Anglo-Saxon women compared to immigrants.
  • D. A widespread feminist movement arguing that abortion exploited women.
Question 3 of 8
How did antiabortion lobbyists successfully argue for the 1977 Hyde Amendment, which banned Medicaid funding for abortions?
  • A. By proving that abortion procedures were medically unsafe for low-income patients.
  • B. By arguing that funding abortion was racist and linking Planned Parenthood's founder to the eugenics movement.
  • C. By demonstrating that the constitutional right to privacy did not apply to medical procedures.
  • D. By organizing violent clinic blockades that forced Congress to pass the legislation.
Question 4 of 8
Why did pro-life groups prioritize 'family involvement mandates' (requiring spousal or parental consent) in the late 1980s?
  • A. To strengthen their partnership with the Republican Party by supporting laws that enjoyed popular support and could survive court challenges.
  • B. To compromise with pro-choice groups who also supported family-centered medical decisions.
  • C. To directly challenge the Griswold v. Connecticut ruling regarding marital privacy.
  • D. To shift the financial burden of abortion procedures entirely onto state governments.
Question 5 of 8
In the 1992 Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, what key argument did ACLU attorneys use to defend abortion access?
  • A. They argued that abortion was a fundamental religious freedom.
  • B. They argued that abortion bans violated the medical establishment's right to practice medicine.
  • C. They linked abortion accessibility to sex equality, arguing forced pregnancy would deprive women of educational and career opportunities.
  • D. They claimed that family involvement mandates violated the First Amendment.
Question 6 of 8
During the debates over the D&X procedure ('partial-birth abortion') in the late 1990s, how did the nature of the abortion conflict change?
  • A. The two sides stopped arguing about morality and focused exclusively on reducing healthcare costs.
  • B. The conflict became a debate over which scientific and medical experts could be trusted to measure the costs and benefits of abortion.
  • C. Both sides agreed to defer to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) for policy decisions.
  • D. The Supreme Court ruled that medical evidence could no longer be used in abortion-related lawsuits.
Question 7 of 8
How did the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) under President Obama impact the abortion debate?
  • A. It codified abortion rights into federal law, fulfilling a major goal of the pro-choice movement.
  • B. It guaranteed federal Medicaid funding for abortions across all 50 states.
  • C. It led to a compromise that barred federal abortion funding under the ACA and fueled a Republican backlash resulting in state-level restrictions.
  • D. It completely defunded Planned Parenthood at the federal level.
Question 8 of 8
Why did pro-life advocates begin returning to rights-based claims around 2020, after decades of focusing on cost-benefit arguments?
  • A. They realized that cost-benefit arguments were no longer popular with Republican voters.
  • B. The emergence of the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign disproved their cost-benefit statistics.
  • C. The appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices made the overturning of Roe v. Wade seem imminent, allowing them to push for outright bans.
  • D. They lost the financial backing of major medical organizations that supported cost-benefit research.

Abortion and the Law in America — Full Chapter Overview

Abortion and the Law in America Summary & Overview

Abortion and the Law in America (2020) offers a comprehensive legal history of abortion rights in the US. It highlights the social and cultural shifts that have contributed to the abortion debate and looks closely at the types of arguments invoked by both sides.

Who Should Listen to Abortion and the Law in America?

  • People who want to learn more about the complexity of the American abortion debate
  • Those interested in the relationship between cultural values and law
  • Anyone following US politics

About the Author: Mary Ziegler

Mary Ziegler is a law professor at UC Davis School of Law. One of the leading historians of the US abortion debate, she is also the author of Dollars for Life and After Roe.

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App