"Before 1967, abortion was illegal nationwide except when necessary to save the life of the mother. Between 1967 and 1970, 12 states implemented modest reforms legalizing abortion s under special circumstances such as rape or incest. Abortion was fully legalized in 4 states (New York, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii) in 1970 and became widely available in California at about that time after a 1969 state Supreme Court ruling. Following the 1973 US Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade, abortion became legal in all states."