may be effectuated by an abortion free of interference by the State." (emphasis added) 410 U.S. at 163, 93 S.Ct. at 732.
The Court stated in regard to the second trimester:
"With respect to the State's important and legitimate interest in the health of the mother, the `compelling' point, in the light of present medical knowledge, is at approximately the end of the first trimester . . . It follows that, from and after this point, a State may regulate the abortion procedure to the extent that the regulation reasonably relates to the preservation and protection of maternal health. Examples of permissible state regulation in this area are requirements as to the qualifications of the person who is to perform the abortion; as to the licensure of that person; aspermits the woman's right to an abortion in the first trimester to be conditioned upon a showing of "irreparable injury". All that the Supreme Court requires is that she, with her physician, decides she should have an abortion.
Let us see clearly what the United States Supreme Court is telling us: This is a free country in which people can make their own decisions. There is nothing in what the Supreme Court said that forces a woman to have an abortion and there is nothing that forces a doctor to perform an abortion.
All the Supreme Court held is that the woman and her doctor, in the first trimester, are permitted to follow their consciences in this matter without having their consciences dictated by the state legislature.
What the Justices are