The news on Jan. 23, 1973, that the Supreme Court had legalized women's access to abortion through Roe v. Wade wasn't even the top story in The Atlanta Constitution that day.
The big news, instead, was that former President Lyndon B. Johnson had died at his Texas ranch.
More coverage of the Roe decision came over the next few days, with one article quoting the president of Georgia Right to Life, which is still a force in Georgia politics, promising, "The battle has just begun." Another article described women in Atlanta, who had been lobbying for abortion rights, saying they were, "Excited and a little confused," about how the ruling would be implemented.
