There was no vaccine for chickenpox in 1973, and licensure for the combination treatment of measles, mumps, and rubella was only 2 years old. The Heimlich Maneuver, a common treatment for choking, had not been finalized, and physicians had yet to successfully complete a heart-lung transplant. Unborn babies at 28 weeks were considered viable outside the womb. 

The world of science and medicine was drastically different the year the highest court in the United States concluded in Roe vs. Wade that abortion should be legal. With limited information, the Supreme Court decided that the fetus is “potentially” human and that a woman’s right to privacy supersedes the rights of a potential person.