Before 1973, abortions in the United States were illegal. Women seeking abortions, more often than not, worked through an underground network of doctors who were willing to take risks of being arrested and jailed. Many abortions were performed by people who were not doctors.  

Procedures often took place under dangerous circumstances, sometimes resulting in permanent reproductive damage or death. Many women could not access or afford these "underground" services. As a result, some would attempt to self-induce abortion in life-threatening ways.

With the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, women could legally access safe abortions. Soon after, the mortality rate from abortions significantly dropped. 

In the years following, access to abortions has been restricted through state legislation. More than a thousand state laws have been enacted making it harder, if not impossible, to get an abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute's research, as of August 2017, 58% of American women of reproductive age lived in a state considered either hostile or extremely hostile to abortion rights.