Remembering an Era Before Roe, When New York Had the ‘Most Liberal’ Abortion Law

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A billboard in Pennsylvania advertises legal abortions for under $250 in New York City. After New York legalized abortion in 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade, women from outside the state flocked there to get the procedure.CreditUnited Press International

By Julia Jacobs

• July 19, 2018

In 1971, Pamela Mason was a college freshman living in Ohio when she got pregnant. She knew immediately that she wanted an abortion, but the procedure was heavily restricted in her state.

Still, she wanted to find a way. The clinic near her university’s campus referred her to an abortion clinic in Manhattan, and when she was about 10 weeks along, Ms. Mason and her boyfriend scraped together enough money to drive to New York City.

Three years before Roe v. Wade established a constitutional right to abortion, New York legalized the procedure in 1970, turning the state into a magnet for women who wanted to terminate their pregnancies but were barred from doing so where they lived.

“I was very relieved because New York was doable. It was 500 miles away,” said Ms. Mason, now 64 and a human resources manager living in New Jersey.