What did the Supreme Court determine in the case of Roe v. Wade?

In the case of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court established a woman's legal right to abortion based on the right to privacy, which the Court found to be implied by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This landmark decision acknowledged that while the state has an interest in protecting both the health of the mother and the potential life of the fetus, it also recognized a woman's constitutional right to make decisions about her own body, including the choice to terminate a pregnancy.

The decision set up a framework that balanced these interests by allowing states to regulate abortion but only after the first trimester, indicating that a woman's right to choose must be prioritized in the earlier stages of pregnancy. This ruling significantly impacted abortion laws across the United States and shaped the ongoing debates surrounding reproductive rights. Thus, the determination that a woman's legal right to abortion falls under the right to privacy is crucial in understanding the implications of the case and the legal landscape that followed.