...ROE v. WADE 410 U.S. 113 (1973) STATEMENT OF THE CASE: The Procedural Road from State Courts to the Supreme Court Appeal: In 1970, Norma McCorvey, a pregnant single woman, sought to terminate her pregnancy however, she was unable to do so because in her home state of Dallas, Texas, abortion was illegal with the exception of extreme cases of medical necessity, not applicable to her. McCorvey, using the name “Jane Roe” as an alias, filed suit at the district level against Henry Wade, the District Attorney for Dallas County, Texas, challenging the constitutionality of the Texas state laws prohibiting abortions and seeking an injunction against its enforcement, (in other words, the Appellant asked the court to forbid the district attorney from prosecuting anyone else under the Texas abortion law in the future). The district court ruled in favor of McCorvey, but ultimately failed to resolve the matter in a practical sense by refusing to issue an injunction to prevent the existing legislation from being enforced. Due to the district court’s refusal to enjoin future prosecutions for abortion, Roe and her attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and the case was granted certiorari. By the time the case reached the Supreme Court, however, McCorvey had already given birth, but the Court entertained the case anyway, reasoning that if the traditional standards of mootness and the exclusion of advisory opinions were upheld, no pregnant Plaintiff could ever successfully litigate...
Words: 1358 - Pages: 6
...Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. Decided simultaneously with a companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the Court ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting women's health. Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the trimester of pregnancy. The Court later rejected Roe's trimester framework, while affirming Roe's central holding that a person has a right to abortion until viability. The Roe decision defined "viable" as being "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid", adding that viability "is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks." In disallowing many state and federal restrictions on abortion in the United States, Roe v. Wade prompted a national debate that continues today, about issues including whether and to what extent abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, what methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication, and what the role should be of religious and moral views in the political sphere. Roe v. Wade reshaped...
Words: 515 - Pages: 3
...Roe v. Wade (1973) ruled unconstitutional a state law that banned abortions except to save the life of the mother. The Court ruled that the states were forbidden from outlawing or regulating any aspect of abortion performed during the first trimester of pregnancy, could only enact abortion regulations reasonably related to maternal health in the second and third trimesters, and could enact abortion laws protecting the life of the fetus only in the third trimester. Even then, an exception had to be made to protect the life of the mother. Controversial from the moment it was released, Roe v. Wade politically divided the nation more than any other recent case and continues to inspire heated debates, politics, and even violence today ("the culture wars"). Though by no means the Supreme Court's most important decision, Roe v. Wade remains its most recognized. At the time Roe was decided, most states severely restricted or banned the practice of abortion. However, these restrictions were challenged amid the sexual revolution and feminist movements of the 1960s. In 1970, two recent graduates of the University of Texas Law School, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, brought a lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman, Dallas area resident Norma L. McCorvey ("Jane Roe"), claiming a Texas law criminalizing most abortions violated Roe's constitutional rights. The Texas law banned all abortions except those necessary to save the life of the mother. Roe claimed that while her life was not endangered...
Words: 863 - Pages: 4
...Roe V. Wade (1973) - personal liberties Roe V. Wade (1973) - Personal Liberties Roe v. wade this case took place in the year of 1973 (January 22), Roe, was a Texas resident who was pregnant and wanted to terminate her pregnancy by abortion. Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the pregnant woman's life. The Court heard her arguments twice. She was known as "Jane Roe" it was used for Norma McCorvey, whose suit was originally filed, alleging that the abortion law in Texas violated her constitutional rights and the rights of other women. The defendant was the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, Henry B. Wade. Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee were the plaintiff's lawyers. John Tolle, Jay Floyd and Robert Flowers were the defendant's lawyers. In this case all state laws limiting women's access to abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy were invalidated. Roe v. Wade was decided basically on the Fourteen Amendments to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights. The Court's decision in this case was that the Fourteen Amendment, in stating that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," protected a person's right to privacy. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. As a result, the laws of 46 states were affected...
Words: 394 - Pages: 2
...opinions. William Rehnquist’s confirmation process was very rough and he had a lot of opposition because of his views that he had expressed at a younger age. Roe v. Wade was about a woman who did not want to have her unborn child, but Texas was very strict about no abortion unless the mother’s life is at risk. Roe v. Wade is significant because it supported abortion and women’s rights. It also gave a woman a choice about what she wanted to do with her life. Justice Blackmun’s opinion made the statement that the government does not have any...
Words: 625 - Pages: 3
...He explains the drop in criminal activity began with the young girl Norma McCorvey. She was Poor, uneducated, and unskilled, she had given up 2 kids the year before and had become pregnant once more. Common in other states, abortion was unlawful in Texas. Her case made it to the Supreme Court, she disguised her name, Jane Roe. This became the known Roe v. Wade case.The court ruled in her favor, legalizing abortion throughout the country. Levitt argues that this LED to the crime drop. The legalization of abortion impacted criminal activity a generation later. He states that the poor, uneducated girls who were bound seemingly to be criminals weren't being born.Crime did indeed go down.No crime-drop specialists ever cited legalized abortion as a cause, prior to Levitt. Levitt then switches to a discussion of the manner we have a tendency to rely on and trust "experts" who have an in informational advantage over the United States of America. We have a tendency to believe that specialists are using this informational advantage to assist U.S. even if that logic does not prove to be...
Words: 745 - Pages: 3
...of the United States was created in 1789 by Article III of the Constitution. A key precedent of the Court was established in 1803 through the case of Marbury v. Madison. Since then the Court has ruled on the constitutionality of laws throughout the United States. Two more recent landmark cases are Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. These cases focused on women’s reproductive rights, such as abortion and a state’s rights to restrict abortions based on the constitutional rights. Roe v. Wade took place in the early 1970’s. The 1960’s were a time of hippies, peace and “flower power.” Going into the 1970’s women were demanding respect and equal rights. (“Roe v. Wade.” United States History) Norma McCorvey, also known as...
Words: 1217 - Pages: 5
...Roe v. Wade is the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion within the first two months of a women's pregnancy. The plaintiff, Jane Roe, resided in Texas where abortion was illegal unless a woman’s life was at risk. She sought to have an abortion because her financial situation was not stable enough to support a child. The case began in 1970 when Roe took federal action against Dallas Counties’ district attorney, Henry Wade. The case officially went to trial on on December 13th, 1971. Eventually the case was moved to the Supreme Court on October 11th, 1972. On January 22nd, 1973, the US Supreme Court came to a seven to two decision. The conclusion of the court case affirms a women's right to have an abortion under...
Words: 555 - Pages: 3
...abortion is immensely vital to the Unites States, as it guarantees women the right to take ownership of their own bodies without outside factors meddling. Roe v Wade is a landmark decision by the Unites States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion in 1973, legalizing the termination of a human pregnancy throughout the country. Jane Roe, a pregnant single woman, filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Texas abortion laws. The lawsuit was filed against Henry Wade, a district attorney of Dallas...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
...Many people believe that abortion is only a moral issue but it is also a constitutional issue. Involving six different amendments, the Roe v. Wade decision was greatly based on The Constitution. The supreme court decision in Roe v. Wade was incorrect legally and constitutionally. All unborn children are entitled to protection under the constitution for they are human beings, but the decision that was made after just after two years of arguing made it possible for unborn children to be aborted within the first six months of the pregnancy. One may wonder why such a situation would have to occur, the answer is simple, a minority of pro-life citizens made abortion illegal. This scene is not one that a person could envision occurring in the United States, a land that is considered to be contemporary and enlightened. This very panorama could become reality due to the moral arguments given by means of those who support pro-choice. The problem with these arguments is that they are based on nothing more than inaccurate, uninformed opinions. The Supreme Courts job is to, of course, is to resolve the issue by constitutional...
Words: 1410 - Pages: 6
...The article, “Aborting Roe: Jane Roe Questions the Viability of Roe v. Wade”, was written by Andrew A. Adams. Mr. Adams is an attorney in Houston, Texas and is on the Board of Directors for the Texas Review of Law and Politics. In this article, Mr. Adams’ discusses the reasons that Norma McCorvey, (formally known as Jane Roe), now wants the Supreme Court’s decision to be overturned regarding a women’s right to have an abortion. Mr. Adams’ creates a thesis in his article that he feels support the reasons why Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Adams’ main thesis and focus regarding this article is that, abortion actually causes more harm to women than good and that the Constitutional basis regarding abortion is political fiction. In the article the author questions at what point is a human life a citizen and when does a human life have a right of its own? The author believes that an unborn child should have the same protection of all other humans....
Words: 805 - Pages: 4
...Norma McCorvey, best known as "Jane Roe" of the milestone supreme court case Roe v. Wade, has died in her home state of Texas, at the age of 69. The cause of death was heart failure. Her daughter Melissa and several grandchildren were present at the time of death. When she was just 23 years old and pregnant for the third time, McCorvey became the anonymous lead plaintiff in a historic class-action lawsuit which challenged the law prohibiting abortions, except to save the life of a pregnant woman. McCorvey herself was mostly interested in terminating the pregnancy; however, in the three years it took for the case to reach the Supreme Court, she never attended a single trial. During that time, her baby girl was born and eventually adopted. Three years later, the Supreme Court handed down its infamous 7-to-2...
Words: 419 - Pages: 2
...In the legal case of Roe v. Wade - one of the most distinguished Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century - Henry Wade, who was the district attorney of Dallas Country from 1951 to 1987, had enforced a Texas law that made it a crime to procure or attempt an abortion, except when medically advised for the purpose of saving the life of the mother. Norma McCorvey was a young, pregnant woman in Texas without the means or funds to access an abortion, she became the anonymous plaintiff “Jane Roe”. It was alleged that she was not married, and unable to receive a legal abortion by a licensed physician because her life was not threatened by the continuation of her pregnancy. She was also unable to afford to travel to another jurisdiction to obtain...
Words: 295 - Pages: 2
...In the case called “Roe v. Wade”, there is an issue with a lady named Norma Leah McCorvey but is mostly known as “Jane Roe”, who wants an abortion but is illegal in the state of Texas. Now the county called Wade County finds out that she is attempting to have an abortion and they are pressing charges against her and is thrown in jail. Roe decided to fight for her freedom and decides to take this situation to court. The court was taken to the district court. While in the court Roe was making a big statement and stated that the government interfering with her abortion violates her 14th amendment which deals with the right to privacy. Roe gets her way and ends up winning the court case in the district but Wade County is not happy at all and decides...
Words: 2441 - Pages: 10
...be telling you about deals with abortion but not only do I hope to inform you on the case but I hope to help you realize how to search for the whole stories. The case I will be telling you about is Roe v. Wade. Roe was a single pregnant woman. She is the plaintiff. Wade was the county's District Attorney. He was the defendant. Also on the plaintiff side was Hallford, who was a doctor who was faced with criminal charges for violating Texas' state abortion laws, and the Does who was...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
