# Abortion before Roe v.s. Wade

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-before-roe-v-s-wade/30946>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 27, 2000, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-before-roe-v-s-wade/30946 "2000-08-27T18:34:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-before-roe-v-s-wade/30946/1 "2000-08-27T18:34:52Z")

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What states had legal abortion before Roe v. Wade?  
Were there any protests about it there?

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-before-roe-v-s-wade/30946/2 "2000-08-27T18:43:52Z")

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An ACLU paper I found on the web said that 17 states “decriminalized” abortion between 1967 and 1971. I would imagine that they were likely to have been in the Northeast and the West.

Definitely wasn’t Texas. I doubt any state changed its abortion laws very quickly or with minimal protest.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-before-roe-v-s-wade/30946/3 "2000-08-27T19:07:47Z")

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According to the footnotes in Roe v. Wade, four states had essentially made early term abortions legal: Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and Washington.

Other states had loosened restrictions by the time of Roe v. Wade: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia.

So, my guess on the areas where abortion was legal or, at least tolerated, was wrong.

I did find an article written by a woman who was instrumental in New York’s adoption of legal abortions. Women seeking such procedures were subject to protests and other demonstrations back before Roe.