Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade (1973) was the court case that established a woman's constitutional right to choose to have an abortion in the first trimester (three months) of her pregnancy. In the twenty-first century, it remains one of the most controversial precedents in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court .

In 1970, an unmarried Texas woman named Norma McCorvey (1947–) wanted to terminate her pregnancy; she lived in poverty and could not afford to raise a child. Neither could she afford to travel across state lines to a state where abortion was legal; Texas law at the time outlawed abortion unless the mother's life was at risk. McCorvey sued the Dallas district attorney, Henry Wade (1914–2001), so that she could obtain her abortion. In order to retain her privacy, she used the name “Jane Roe.”

The Supreme Court heard arguments for the case in December 1971, and a second round of arguments in October 1972. Finally, in 1973, the Court voted 7 to 2 in favor of Roe, citing that the woman's constitutional right to privacy outweighed the Texas statute outlawing abortion.

Before the 1973 ruling, most states had outlawed abortion, though exceptions sometimes were made if the mother's life was in danger. The Roe v. Wade decision meant that states could restrict abortions only in the last three months of pregnancy, when the fetus usually is able to live on its own outside the mother's womb.

In writing the Court's majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun (1908–1999) explained the difficulties the Court experienced in coming to a decision: “One's philosophy, one's experiences, one's exposure to the raw edges of human existence, one's religious training, one's attitudes toward life and family and their values, and the moral standards one establishes and seeks to observe, are all likely to influence and to color one's thinking and conclusions about abortion.” He went on to say that these difficulties made it necessary to refer to the U.S. Constitution for a ruling.

Roe v. Wade continues to be debated in classrooms, on campuses, and in politics across the nation. Although many expected the Supreme Court to overturn the decision several times since its pronouncement, the ruling remains intact.