based predominantly on what [Justice] Blackmun called a right of
privacy.”
25
The nightly news programs on the major television
networks also reported on Roe to an audience of tens of millions of
viewers. The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite—a news
program with, at that time, a consistent audience of twenty million
or more viewers—covered the decision in a segment lasting more
than three minutes, noting that “[t]he nine justices made abortion
25. See, e.g., Associated Press, Abortion Law Out, Mexico
Ledger, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, Barry Schweid,
Abortion Law Struck by Court, The Courier News (Blytheville),
Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, Abortions Allowed During 1st
6 Months, The Daily Chronicle (Centralia), Jan. 22, 1973, at 1;
Associated Press, Barry Schweid, Blackmun Cites ‘Right of Privacy’
Court Bars Restricting Three-Month Abortions, The Index-Journal
(Greenwood), Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, Court Strikes
Down Abortion Law, The Neosho Daily News, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1;
Associated Press, Court Strikes Down Abortion Law, Aiken Standard,
Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, Court Strikes Down Texas
Abortion Law, The Daily Times-News (Burlington), Jan. 22, 1973, at
1; Associated Press, Barry Schweid, Decision Will Affect 44 States,
Del Rio News-Herald, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, High
Court Upholds Medical Abortions, Waukesha Daily Freeman,
Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, Key Abortion Ruling by
Supreme Court, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1;
Associated Press, Rule on Abortions, The Sedalia Democrat, Jan. 22,
1973, at 1; Associated Press, States Can’t Block Early Abortions,
The Bismarck Tribune, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press,
Supreme Court Upholds Women’s Abortion Rights, Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1; Associated Press, Texas Law
Struck Down, 7-2, The Vernon Daily Record, Jan. 22, 1973, at 1-2.