---
title: The surprising history of abortion in the United States
date: 2023-12-04T18:00:00-05:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/media-coverage/surprising-history-abortion-united-states"
section: Media Coverage
---
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[Media Coverage](/media-coverage)# The surprising history of abortion in the United States

CNN • June 27, 2016

> Since 1973, when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion across the United States, states have enacted more than 1,074 laws to limit access to the procedure, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive rights organization. More than a quarter of these laws passed between 2010 and 2015.  
>   
> It wasn't always like this, says Reagan, a professor of history, medicine, gender, women's studies and law at the University of Illinois.  
>   
> So how did we get here?  
>   
> With the help of Reagan, author of "When Abortion Was a Crime," and the nonprofit Our Bodies Ourselves, we set out to learn what abortion was like in America before 1973.

  
Read the complete story: [The surprising history of abortion in the United States](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/health/abortion-history-in-united-states/index.html) by Jessica Ravitz[Read the full article ](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/health/abortion-history-in-united-states/index.html)

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