Protester över hela USA till stöd för aborträtten

Abortion in the United States refers to the practice of terminating a pregnancy, and it is among the most controversial and divisive issues in American society, culture and politics. Various anti-abortion laws have been in force in each state since at least 1900. Before the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade decriminalized abortion nationwide in 1973, abortion was already legal in several states, but the decision imposed a uniform framework for state legislation on the subject. It established a minimal period during which abortion is legal (with more or fewer restrictions throughout the pregnancy). That basic framework, modified in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), remains nominally in place, although the effective availability of abortion varies significantly from state to state, as many counties have no abortion providers. Planned Parenthood v. Casey held that a law cannot place legal restrictions imposing an undue burden for "the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus."The main actors in the abortion debate are most often labeled either as "pro-choice" or "pro-life", though shades of opinion exist, and most Americans are considered to be somewhere in the middle. A 2018 Gallup survey found the percentages that were pro-choice or pro-life were equal (at 48%), but more people considered abortion morally wrong (48%) than morally acceptable (43%). The poll results also indicated that Americans harbor a diverse and shifting set of opinions on the legal status of abortion. The survey found that only 29% of respondents believed abortion should be legal in all circumstances, and 50% of respondents believed that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances. Recent polling results also found that only 34% of Americans were satisfied with abortion laws.