Abortion in the United States: A Snapshot

By Robert Siegel,

Audie Cornish

Published January 4, 2006 at 2:06 PM PST

We hear historic recordings of three Supreme Court arguments: Roe v. Wade, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services and Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Then, Stanley Henshaw of the Alan Guttmacher Institute discusses abortion statistics: how many abortions are performed in the United States each year and what the trends are.

And NPR's Audie Cornish travels to Mississippi, a state with some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. The entire state has only one abortion clinic, and pro-life lobbyists are trying to get even more pro-life legislation passed.

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Robert Siegel

Prior to his retirement, Robert Siegel was the senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel hosted the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reported on stories and happenings all over the globe, and reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He signed off in his final broadcast of All Things Considered on January 5, 2018.

See stories by Robert Siegel

Audie Cornish

Over two decades of journalism, Audie Cornish has become a recognized and trusted voice on the airwaves as co-host of NPR's flagship news program, All Things Considered.

See stories by Audie Cornish