Abortion was legal in the United States from the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, until state legislatures began banning abortion in the early 1800s. Quickening is the term used for the point where a woman first notices fetal movement, and usually occurs at about 16-18 weeks into the pregnancy. Not only was abortion legal, it was also not entirely uncommon, and many newspapers, including some church publications, provided advertisements for drugs to induce abortions. In 1821, Connecticut became the first state to enact abortion legislation for women who had reached quickening, but abortion before quickening did not become illegal in Connecticut until 1860. By the end of the 1950s, however, a large majority of states had banned all abortion except for instances where the woman's life was in danger.
Abortion is used primarily as a form of birth control.
To choose to have an abortion is a very personal and very private decision, and no one, individual or institution, has the right to question why a woman decides as she does. There are a number of reasons why a woman chooses to have an abortion, including health, family welfare, financial situation, and other personal reasons, but the decision itself is not one that is ever taken lightly. Abortion is a multi-billion dollar industry. While there are a number of private clinics that do provide abortion services, the majority of women's health care clinics, providing a spectrum of reproductive and health services, are non-profit and in need of federal funding and general support from the public in order to serve their clients. Not only do these clinics provide a variety of services including gynecological and prenatal exams, and family planning for both men and women, they are also the primary source of health care for millions of women, well over four million of whom rely on federally funded clinics.