ts. This happens at both the federal and state levels (Tonn, 1996). Often, the final decision concerning the constitutionality of these laws will be made by the United States Supreme Court (Supreme Court, 1975, p. 324). In any case, the issue will continue to be debated because supporters of different sides of the subject do not want to settle the issue:
US federal courts continue to tinker with the precise meaning of the reproductive and privacy rights emerging from Griswold, and Roe . . . We readily grant there is no moral consensus on abortion (Meyers & Woods, 1996).
Some United States Supreme Court decisions are very important for the abortion issue. The most important was Roe v. Wade (1973), the case that changed abortion law in America by giving women the legal right to have an abortion. Before 1973, abortion was against the law. Roe v. Wade established the time of "fetus viability" (Sullivan, 1994, p. 42) at 24 weeks of pregnancy. Fetus viability means that time in the development process when the baby's life can begin outside womb. Thus, abortion was made legal for the first six months of pregnancy (Conklin, 1997, p. 32). However, this did not settle for all time the issue of abortion in America.
From 1973 to 1998, "anti-choice legislation" (Conklin, 1997, p. 33) was supported by groups and persons that did not want abortion to be legal: religious groups, religious leaders, and individuals with strong moral convictions against abortion. Morgan says the "social recognition of fetuses, newborns, and young children is embedded within a wider social context" (1989, p. 28). This led to more cases in the Supreme Court. Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989) was an important decision which began when Missouri made rules about "fetus viability" testing before an abortion could take place, and the Supreme Court upheld this law. Webster v. Reproductive Health Services has been called a "watershed" because it...