Final answer:
The statement is true. The Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade established the right of a woman to decide on an abortion during the first trimester under the constitutional right to privacy, affecting laws in 46 states and creating a framework for regulating abortion that involved the woman's right and the state’s interests.
Step-by-step explanation:
Roe v. Wade and the Right to Privacy
The statement that in a landmark case, the court decided that a woman and her doctor, not the state, possessed the right to decide the fate of a pregnancy is True. This landmark case is known as Roe v. Wade, which has been pivotal in shaping the legal context for abortion rights in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, established a woman's right to an abortion under the right to privacy doctrine. This decision recognized the constitutional right to privacy, which included the decision to terminate a pregnancy, primarily during the first trimester. This significant judgment was pronounced in 1973 and has since played a central role in the ongoing debate between "pro-choice" and "pro-life" advocates.
The ruling leveraged the 9th Amendment and 14th Amendment, holding that a woman’s decision to have an abortion during the first trimester falls within the right to personal privacy protected by the 14th Amendment. As a result, the decision affected the laws in 46 states that regulated abortion. The Court's decision in the Roe v. Wade case remains a cornerstone of reproductive rights and one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions to date.
A key aspect of the Roe v. Wade decision is its establishment of a framework for regulating abortion: During the first trimester, a woman could seek an abortion without restrictions; in the second trimester, the government could regulate but not ban abortions to protect the mother's health; and in the third trimester, after fetal viability, abortion could be regulated or prohibited, except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the woman.