Major funding for backstory is provided by an anonymous donor, the National Endowment

for the Humanities, and the Robert and Joseph Cornell Memorial Foundation.

From Virginia Humanities, this is backstory.

Welcome to backstory, the show that explores the history behind the headlines.

I'm Nathan Connolly.

And I'm Joanne Freeman.

If you're new to the podcast, we're all historians, and each week along with our

co-hosts and heirs in Brian Ballot, we explore a different aspect of American history.

Now there is no shortage of famous Supreme Court decisions.

Margarie V. Madison, plus Evie Ferguson, Brown V. Board of Education.

But few of them are as currently controversial as the decision in Roe v. Wade, which decriminalized

abortion.

Ever since the ruling was decided in 1973, it's been simultaneously contested and celebrated.

And now, Roe v. Wade is in the news again.

States including Alabama and Missouri have passed laws that pose a direct challenge to

the Roe decision, while others, including Illinois and New York, are showing up abortion

rights for women in their state.

All this talk is leading some to ask, are we close to seeing the end of Roe?

So on this episode, we explore the history behind a case whose details are often forgotten

or misunderstood.

We'll examine what women had to go through to find a safe abortion before the landmark

ruling.

...