"Roe v. Wade seemed to settle the abortion question, holding that a pregnant woman has a right to privacy (pursuant to the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution), which includes the right to terminate a pregnancy. The Court did not recognize an absolute right to abortion, instead acknowledging that that State has an interest in the protection of potential life, an interest that increases in strength as the pregnancy progresses. In Roe v. Wade, the Court created a ‘trimester framework’ to mirror the growing importance of the State interest in protecting fetal life (and the reduced safety of the abortion procedure itself) as pregnancy advances. The Roe. v Wade framework permitted abortion without restriction in the first trimester of pregnancy; in the second trimester, the State was permitted to regulate some aspects of abortion (in essence, where the procedure can be performed, and by whom). Finally, in the third trimester of pregnancy, States were free to prohibit abortion except where necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman. Fetal viability (the stage at which a fetus is theoretically capable of sustained life outside of the pregnant woman’s body) was the point at which the State’s interest in protecting potential life became ‘compelling’. Since 1973, the abortion right has remained profoundly contentious, with opponents of abortion continuing to attempt to circumscribe (or even abrogate) the right articulated in Roe v. Wade. The challenges to Roe v Wade have come primarily in the form of state legislation that limits women’s ability to exercise the right to terminate pregnancy. The continued attempts to legislate such limits have meant that the issue of abortion rights has returned to the US Supreme Court on a number of occasions. These legislative efforts have had variable results; although the Court has not resiled from the basic holding in Roe v Wade, the continued attacks on that decision (and the partial successes its opponents can claim) make it clear that abortion rights in the US cannot be taken for granted."