It was controversial mainly for two reasons: Because it involved the abortion attempt of a young woman who was a physical and emotions abuse victim, who had also lied to authorities in Texas in order to get a legal abortion. Public opinion was largely divided on the issue. Conservatives blamed the woman and Democrats blamed the existing laws that prevented women from aborting.
The second reason was judicial: many people considered that the Constitution was being misinterpreted to adjust to shifting social mores. For these dissenters, there was no legal justification of any kind to authorize abortion as a Constitutional right.
The correct answer should be the third one you listed. The "current drag" then is a device that is used in order to measure the sub-surface currents. This device and the measurements it provides are extremely important for the field of oceanography which studies the aspects of the oceans both the physical and the biological ones.
He used them to develop the plot. He was a master at plot development. Bierce loved to develop the plot through a sequence of events even if it made the reader uncomfortable.
French Canadian is typically used when referring to people who are of the ethnic group that has ancestry from French people who settled in Canada in the 17th Century and onward, whereas Québécois is used when referring to the native inhabitants of Quebec.
