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| - The US Supreme Court is to hear a case on Wednesday that could have a bearing on the future of abortion in the United States. The following are some facts and figures about abortion in the US: The US Supreme Court legalized a woman's right to an abortion in all 50 states in the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade. In a 1992 case, the court ruled that a woman could terminate her pregnancy as long as the fetus is not viable, which is usually before the 24th week. Besides recognizing a woman's right to an abortion before viability, the court banned restrictions that would put an "undue burden" on access to the procedure. What constitutes an "undue burden" has been subject to interpretation, and several conservative states have passed laws restricting access to abortion. These laws have resulted in the closure of numerous abortion clinics. Six states, including Mississippi and Missouri, have only one abortion clinic each. In contrast, the liberal state of California has 150. The Louisiana law before the Supreme Court requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of where the procedure is being performed. Pro-choice groups argue that this would leave Louisiana with just one abortion clinic. Other state laws, for example, prohibit an abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks -- before a woman may even know she is pregnant. More than 862,000 abortions were performed in the United States in 2017, which works out to about 13.5 abortions for every 1,000 women aged 15-44. That rate, which is comparable to the rates in both France and Britain, has been trending downward. According to the non-profit Guttmacher Institute, the 862,320 abortions in the United States in 2017 represented a seven percent decline since 2014. The number of abortions performed each year varies widely by state. In the southern state of Alabama, there are 6.2 abortions per 1,000 women, while the rate in New York is 23.1 per 1,000, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abortion is one of the most controversial issues in the United States. According to a 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of Americans believe abortion should remain legal, while 37 percent believe it should be banned. The breakdown largely follows party lines, with most Democrats backing a woman's right to an abortion and most Republicans opposing the procedure. During his presidential campaign, Republican Donald Trump courted the religious right with a pledge to name anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court. Since taking office he has named two conservative justices -- Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- to the nine-member court. Their appointments have galvanized anti-abortion activists in the country's conservative "Bible Belt," and several states have passed tough laws restricting the practice, including in Alabama in cases of rape. Most of those laws have been struck down by lower courts, but anti-abortion groups are hoping to put the issue before the Supreme Court and force it to revisit Roe v. Wade. chp/cl/bbk
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