In 1973, the Supreme Court guaranteed a woman's right to choose abortion with its landmark decision Roe v. Wade. In the last three decades, the Court has repeatedly upheld Roe's core principles, but it has limited its protections for many women and continues to take cases from lower federal courts in which opponents of legal abortion have tried to restrict women's access to reproductive choice.

Although the right to choose is guaranteed by the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, state legislatures have moved aggressively to restrict women's access to reproductive health services. Often, those restrictions are challenged on a legal basis, making the court system one of the most important fronts in the ongoing struggle to protect the right to choose.