Reporter-Herald Editorial

Forty years ago this week, the Supreme Court issued what remains one of its most polarizing decisions in Roe v. Wade, ruling abortion is a private decision that could be made between a woman and her doctor in the first three months of pregnancy.

The case is widely believed to have allowed abortion, but in fact states then had a hodge-podge of laws, some allowing abortion and others prohibiting it. The Roe ruling affirmed that Texas abortion law of the time was unconstitutional.

Continuing court decisions have narrowed the scope of abortion laws, and states continue to have a variety of laws.

The 1973 decision came just eight years after another Supreme Court decision, Griswold v. Connecticut, where the court ruled that a Connecticut law outlawing access to contraception violated the U.S. Constitution because it invaded the privacy of married couples to make decisions about their families.

Both decisions affirmed that women had a right to control their reproductive lives, two of many rights women fought for during the 1960s and 1970s.

Though abortion remains controversial, a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey this month found that 63 percent of Americans don't want Roe v. Wade overturned, a 3-percentage-point increase from 1992.

And although politicians often are labeled pro-choice or pro-life, most Americans don't label themselves one way or the other.

Even among those who consider themselves pro-choice, few would use the term pro-abortion. Any other form of birth control would be simpler and less fraught with guilt or grief.

Though some people continue to disapprove of any form of birth control, many Americans can agree it's necessary to have it available in some cases, particularly in rape or when the mother's life is in danger.

It will always be preferable to prevent unwanted pregnancies from occurring. Continuing development of better birth control options -- perhaps even a pill for men -- improved availability of birth control options and better education about reproductive health and birth control can help in that effort.

The decision about pregnancy should always remain with those who would carry that pregnancy. As the court said 40 years ago, it's a decision for each individual woman.