Roe v. Wade was a 1971 - 1973 landmark decision by the US Supreme Court. The court ruled that a state law that banned abortions (except to save the life of the mother) was unconstitutional. The ruling made abortion legal in many circumstances. The decision said that a woman's right to privacy extended to the fetus/unborn child she was carrying. In the view of the court, during the first trimester an abortion was no more dangerous than carrying the fetus/child full term. The decision was 7-2, with Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and six other Justices voting for "Jane Roe", and Justices William Rehnquist and Byron White voting against it. 