ABSTRACT
An early focus of the bioethics movement was abortion. A rubella pandemic and the widely publicized story of a mother who had taken thalidomide early in her pregnancy captured the nation's attention. Existing restrictive abortion laws came under increased criticism. Two Supreme Court cases involving the use of contraception set the stage for Roe v. Wade and a companion case, Doe v. Bolton. In Roe, the court confirmed what the contraception cases had established: there was a right to privacy. The court also established that a fetus was not a fully protected person under the Constitution. For many, this decision came like a "bolt from the blue."
