What did Roe v. Wade establish about abortion in the first trimester?

• A. Abortion is prohibited nationwide.
• B. Abortion is protected as a privacy right.
• C. Abortion requires parental consent.
• D. Abortion is entirely left to state law.

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is that abortion falls under the constitutional right to privacy, at least in the first trimester. Roe v. Wade held that a woman’s decision to terminate a pregnancy is protected as a private, personal choice under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and that States cannot ban or impose substantial burdens on a first-trimester abortion. The state’s interest in protecting potential life is not strong enough to override this privacy right early in pregnancy, though how regulation can be applied becomes more permissible later on under the Court’s framework. So, the correct understanding is that abortion in the first trimester is protected as a privacy right, not prohibited nationwide or left entirely to state law.