<P> Roe v. Wade , 410 U.S. 113 ( 1973 ) , is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion . It was decided simultaneously with a companion case , Doe v. Bolton . The Court ruled 7 -- 2 that a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman 's decision to have an abortion , but that this right must be balanced against the state 's interests in regulating abortions : protecting women 's health and protecting the potentiality of human life . Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy , the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the third trimester of pregnancy . </P>
<P> Roe v. Wade , 410 U.S. 113 ( 1973 ) , is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion . It was decided simultaneously with a companion case , Doe v. Bolton . The Court ruled 7 -- 2 that a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman 's decision to have an abortion , but that this right must be balanced against the state 's interests in regulating abortions : protecting women 's health and protecting the potentiality of human life . Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy , the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the third trimester of pregnancy . </P>
in roe v wade the majority of supreme court justices determined that
in roe v wade the majority of supreme court justices determined that
a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman 's decision to have an abortion , but that this right must be balanced against the state 's interests in regulating abortions : protecting women 's health and protecting the potentiality of human life
a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman 's decision to have an abortion , but that this right must be balanced against the state 's interests in regulating abortions : protecting women 's health and protecting the potentiality of human life