Summary
Summary Understanding the history of Roe vs Wade
- Module
- Roe vs wade
- Institution
- AQA
An analysation of the revolution Roe v Wade
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Understanding the history of Roe vs WadeIn 1969, at twenty-one years old, Norma McCorvey discovered that she was pregnant for the
third time, something which she found rather dishearting considering that she did not want to
keep the fetus. In order to obtain a legal abortion, McCorvey's friends advised her to
approach the government of Texas and falsely claim that she had been raped by a group of
young black men; however, such appeal was denied due to the lack of evidence and
documentation obtained by police to clarify McCorvey's claims.
Due to her immense desire to terminate her unwanted pregnancy, McCorvey attempted to
receive an illegal abortion however this too was unsuccessful. As a response to this
interaction, McCorvey became acquainted with attorneys Linda Coffey and Sarah
Weddington, both of whom had been actively searching for pregnant women to embody a
legal trial challenging abortion in the United States of America.
Both Weddington and Coffey saw McCorvey as being vital to their cause because, as she
was told "you're white. You're young, pregnant, and want an abortion." It has been commonly
speculated that the two attorneys were attracted to McCorvey, particularly due to the factors
of her race but also her social background as an individual whose financial situation could
potentially be harmful in a childhood setting. However, somewhat ironically, McCorvey was
openly mutual to the factor of abortion and only agreed to her involvement in Roe vs Wade
due to her belief that this could potentially provide her with the legal abortion she desired.
In 1970, Coffey and Weddington formally filed Roe vs Wade against Henry Wade, the Dallas
County District Attorney representative to the state of Texas. To conceal her identity,
McCorvey was provided with the legal identity of Jane Roe; however, although McCorney
was formally involved in the legal case as Roe, she did not attend any of the cases' trials as
on June the 2nd, she had given birth to her daughter, Shelley Lynn Thornton.
On June the 17th, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favour of Jane Roe,
finding that Texas law on abortion was unconstitutional due to its violation of the ninth
amendment on the grounds that it did not protect an individual's right to privacy in the
respects of why they may desire a termination of their pregnancy. However, the court
nevertheless continued to enforce the law to which Wade stated that he would continue to
prosecute those still actively seeking or performing abortions. Following the trial's
completion, both sides of Roe vs Wade felt a sense of dissatisfaction prompting an appeal to
the Supreme Court in order to reach greater clarification. Many of the judges discussed the
possibility of allowing women to be legally able to seek abortions with the condition of them
still being within the first trimester of their pregnancies. William Brennan, an Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court, proposed the concept of not legalising abortion founded on a
timeframe but contrastingly enabling states the right to approve the procedure based on the
safety of the mother.
On the 22nd of January 1973, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favour of Jane Roe
fundamentally enabling women to make the decision of whether they desired to terminate
their pregnancy without restrictions from the government. The Court's verdict was initially
posted in Times magazine rather than published by the Supreme Court itself, something
which generated great controversy in itself. McCorvey generated a somewhat celebrity
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