Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Roe v. Wade, case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Doe v. Bolton, this decision legalized abortion in the first trimester of ...

(Encyclopedia) Griswold v. Connecticut, case decided in 1965 by the U.S. Supreme Court, establishing a right to privacy in striking down a Connecticut ban on the sale of contraceptives. The Court, through Justice Wi...

(Encyclopedia) roe deer, small, short-horned deer, Capreolus capreolus, of Britain and Europe and as far east as China and Siberia. Its coat is golden red in summer, darkening to brown or even black in winter, with ...

(Encyclopedia) Wade, Abdoulaye äbdo͞olīˈə wäd [key], 1926–, Senegalese political leader. He studied at several French universities, receiving (1970) a doctorate in law and economics from the Sorbonne, and wa...

(Encyclopedia) Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr. əlēˈtō [key], 1950–, U.S. government official and judge, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2006–), b. Trenton, N.J., grad. Pr...

(Encyclopedia) Wade, Benjamin Franklin, 1800–1878, U.S. senator from Ohio (1851–69), b. near Springfield, Mass. He moved (1821) to Ohio and studied law. He was successively prosecuting attorney of Ashtabula co.,...

(Encyclopedia) Blackmun, Harry Andrew blăkˈmən [key], 1908–99, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1970–94), b. Nashville, Ill. Educated at Harvard, he practiced law privately, was general counsel to...

(Encyclopedia) Powell, Lewis Franklin, Jr., 1907–98, American lawyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1971–87), b. Suffolk, Va. He studied law at Washington and Lee Univ. and was admitted to the Vir...

(Encyclopedia) White, Byron Raymond, 1917–2002, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1962–93), b. Fort Collins, Colo. An All-America football player nicknamed “Whizzer” who later starred as a profess...

(Encyclopedia) abortion, expulsion of the products of conception before the embryo or fetus is viable. Any interruption of human pregnancy prior to the 28th week is known as abortion. The term spontaneous abortion, ...