Abortion History in the U.S.
Historical Abortion Law Timeline: 1850 to Today
This Planned Parent article traces the history of abortion law from 1847 thru 2021. The article, therefore, stops just prior to the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision which stopped the federal right to an abortion, leaving laws governing abortion to the individual state governments.
Analysis and articles about the Dobbs decision will be provided in a separate page in this section.
Source:
Planned Parenthood online.
No author cited
The above history of abortion cites that "by 1910, abortion was not only restricted but out right illegal at every state in pregnancy in every state in the country".
For full disclosure and context, here are Appendices A and B from the Dobbs decision (Opinion pp. 79 - 108) describing each State's law regarding abortion as of 1868.
Note: The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868. The 14th Amendment grants equal protection...to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. The Equal Protect clause was cited within Roe v. Wade as the primary primary legal protection for abortion rights. Refer to the 1973 Roe v. Wade discussion in the above article.