Which US Supreme Court decision established a woman's right to choose abortion?

• A. Gonzales v. Carhart
• B. H.L. v. Matheson
• C. Planned Parenthood v. Casey
• D. Roe v. Wade

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that the Supreme Court recognized a woman's right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy as part of a protected privacy liberty. In Roe v. Wade, the Court held that this right is fundamental under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, so states cannot ban abortion before fetal viability. The decision introduced the viability concept and set a framework that limits state regulation early in pregnancy while allowing more regulation as viability nears, with exceptions to protect the woman's life or health.

Later cases refined the approach, notably Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which kept the core right but replaced the trimester framework with the undue-burden standard for evaluating state restrictions. Other listed cases deal with different aspects of abortion regulation, not the initial establishment of the right itself.