Final answer:
Due to the absence of specific statistics from the year 2002, it's challenging to determine the exact number of pregnancies that ended in abortions in the United States during that year. The Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 legalizing abortion under certain conditions significantly changed the landscape of reproductive rights and continues to influence public opinion and political debate.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question regarding how many pregnancies in the United States ended in abortions in 2002 is related to historical trends and legal contexts surrounding reproductive rights and abortion. However, without specific statistics from 2002, it's difficult to provide an exact number.
The legal landscape of abortion in the U.S. changed significantly after the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973, which legalized abortion under certain conditions.
Before the decision, abortions were often dangerous and could be obtained illegally through 'back-alley' methods or, for wealthy women, safely through a small number of physicians willing to perform the procedure outside of the law.
The decision in Roe v. Wade brought about a more open discussion on abortion and shifted public opinion, as evidenced by various opinion polls and surveys conducted during the 1960s and 1970s.
The topic of abortion has remained a contentious social policy issue, with divisions among Americans persisting based on different views of fetal rights and women's bodily autonomy.