Roe v. Wade

Abortion has long been a controversial political issue

The landmark 1973 Supreme Court judgement making abortions legal in the US.

By a vote of seven to two the court justices ruled that governments lacked the power to prohibit abortions.

The court's judgement was based on the decision that a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy came under the freedom of personal choice in family matters as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

The decision remains one of the most controversial ever made by the Supreme Court.