What is Roe v. Wade?
Roe v. Wade is one of the most influential Supreme Court cases in United States history. From abortion access to birth control, it enlightened a new experience of healthcare for women. Throughout the semester, I will be discussing Roe v. Wade, what it meant for America, and how detrimental it was to reverse the ruling.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protected Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, or the women’s right to have an abortion.
The plaintiff was Jane Roe, which was a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey. McCorvey was onto her third pregnancy at the age of 22, already divorced, had given up two children for adoption, and addicted to drugs and alcohol. She was not interested in becoming a plaintiff in a case, she just wanted to get an abortion. However, in Texas, where McCorvey lived at the time, abortion was illegal unless the mother’s life was endangered by carrying to full term. Regardless, lawyers Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee were determined to ensure McCorvey’s right to bodily autonomy.
The defendant, Henry Wade, was an American attorney and served as the district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987. At the time, Wade was upholding Texas’ criminal statute that prohibited doctors to perform abortion.
Dallas Country District Attorney Henry Wade
The case was argued December 13, 1971, reargued on October 11, 1972, and the decision was made on January 22, 1973. In that time period, McCorvey gave birth to a girl who was given up for adoption. When the ruling came back, the courts favored the side of Roe, stating that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a right to privacy, which ultimately protects a woman’s right to abortion. The vote for Roe was 7-2, with the supporting justices being Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, and six associate justices: William O. Douglas, William J. Brennan Jr., Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, and Lewis F. Powell Jr. The dissenting justices were Byron White and William Rehnquist.
Most recently, on June 28, 2022, there was a 5-4 vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, with the five justices being Samuel A. Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett. Fifty years later, the constitutional right to abortion has been taken away from all American women. So, what does this mean for American women? Why did Norma McCorvey become pro-life? Was Henry Wade really against abortions?
Find out more on Us and Roe.