When Abortion Became Legal | Roe v. Wade

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In the first episode of Supreme Court Briefs, Mr. Beat explains one of the most controversial cases in American history- Roe v. Wade.

A young woman named Norma McCorvey was single, pregnant, and scared about her future. She wanted an abortion. But in Texas, abortions were illegal, except in cases in which the mother’s life was in danger. McCorvey had planned on having one anyway, at an illegal clinic. However, police shut down that clinic. Desperate, Norma soon found out that two lawyers were looking for women who were seeking abortions in order to fight the Texas law that banned them.

The lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, decided to take Norma’s case over several others. The two were not much older than Norma. On March 3, 1970, Coffee officially filed a complaint at the Dallas federal district courthouse, giving Norma a pseudonym, “Jane Roe,” to protect her identity. They were suing the State of Texas, arguing its abortion law was unconstitutional. Defending the state of Texas was Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas. By this time, Norma was six months’ pregnant.

The District Court looked at Norma’s case along with two other related cases. On June 17, 1970, the three-judge panel of the Court unanimously called the Texas abortion law unconstitutional, saying it broke the right to privacy assumed under the Ninth Amendment. However, they did not act to stop enforcement of the law. The defense appealed the ruling, and it went to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Norma had given birth to the baby she had originally thought about killing, and put the baby up for adoption.

The case sat for a year and a half. Finally, on December 13, 1971, the Supreme Court heard arguments.

In his opening argument, defense attorney Jay Floyd made a bad joke that probably hurt his case. Go against Weddington and Coffee, he said, “It’s an old joke, but when a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they are going to have the last word.” The joke was not well received. The entire courtroom was silent, and Chief Justice Warren Burger gave him a cold glare. Regardless, by the end of arguments, all of the justices agreed the Texas law was bad, but for different reasons.

But the case sat some more, because two justices, Hugo Black and John Harlan, had recently retired and were not yet replaced. In January, Lewis F. Powell and William Rehnquist joined the court, but it wasn’t until October of 1972 that they heard arguments again.

The Court announced their decision on January 22, 1973. With a 7-2 majority vote, they went in favor of Roe, arguing that abortion fell under the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Again, it came down to a right to privacy. Basically, the Court ruled a woman had the right to an abortion until the fetus reached an age of “viability.” Viability means that the baby would be able to survive independently, outside of the mother’s womb. Well back then, doctors believed this to be around the 28th week of pregnancy. Today, thanks to the wonders of technology, that’s around the 22nd week of pregnancy.

The two justices who disagreed with the decision were Byron White and William Rehnquist, one of the new dudes on the Court. White argued the Court was just making up a new constitutional right and didn’t have the authority to do so. Rehnquist argued the other justices were expanding the 14th Amendment to mean something much more than its original authors intended.

Regardless, the decision essentially legalized abortion and declared many state laws unconstitutional because of this. Before the Roe v. Wade decision, 30 states had outlawed abortion, and the other states restricted it in at least some way.
Roe v. Wade sparked a contentious debate that continues to this day. On one side, supporters of the Roe v. Wade decision are often called “pro-choice,” meaning it should be the woman’s choice whether she wants the abortion or not. Opponents of the Roe v. Wade decision are often called “pro-life.” They argue that, because life begins at conception, any abortion should be regarded as murder.
The abortion issue has become even more divisive in recent years. In fact, many people vote for politicians simply based on whether they are pro-life or not.
So whatever happened to Norma McCorvey? Well, in a 1984 TV interview, she revealed herself as “Roe,” and became a pro-choice advocate, even volunteering at a women’s clinic. At first, she went around telling the press that she had wanted the abortion because she was raped. However, she later said that this was a lie- she had made it up. Norma published an autobiography in 1994, called I Am Roe. Soon after this, in a surprising turn of events, she quit her job at the abortion clinic and became pro-life.