Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade was a U.S. Supreme Court case which declared that a right of privacy under the Constitution guaranteed a woman's choice to have an abortion under certain circumstances. The case began in 1970 when Jane Roe (a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey) filed a federal class action suit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas county, Texas. The court ruled in a 7–2 vote that Texas state regulations restricting abortions were unconstitutional, and overturned several Texas statutes that criminalized abortion in most instances. Their decision was based on an interpretation of the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution (right of privacy). Their ruling in 1973 effectively legalized elective abortions in the United States during the first two trimesters,, and since that time there have been approximately 50,000,000 total abortions in the US.

Much like the infamous Scopes Trial, Roe v Wade was a trial crafted by a consortium of individuals and groups to challenge existing laws. The action was set in motion in 1969, when abortion rights supporters held a conference to formalize their goals and formed the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (now known as "NARAL Pro-Choice America"). Lawyers Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington then met Norma McCorvey, who wished to have an abortion but was prohibited, and a class action lawsuit was filed to challenge the Texas state law. Although Norma McCorvey had her child long before the trial began, her case was successfully argued before the US Supreme Court.

An important result of the case was the creation of the "trimester" system that:
 * gives American women an absolute right to an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy
 * allows some government regulation in the second trimester of pregnancy
 * declares that states may restrict or ban abortions in the last trimester as the fetus nears the point where it could live outside the womb; in this trimester a woman can obtain an abortion despite any legal ban only if doctors certify it is necessary to save her life or health

Decision


Case Name: ROE V. WADE, 410 U.S. 113 (Read the remainder of the decision)

A pregnant single woman (Roe) brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life. A licensed physician (Hallford), who had two state abortion prosecutions pending against him, was permitted to intervene. A childless married couple (the Does), the wife not being pregnant, separately attacked the laws, basing alleged injury on the future possibilities of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, and impairment of the wife's health. A three-judge District Court, which consolidated the actions, held that Roe and Hallford, and members of their classes, had standing to sue and presented justiciable controversies. Ruling that declaratory, though not injunctive, relief was warranted, the court declared the abortion statutes void as vague and overbroadly infringing those plaintiffs' Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The court ruled the Does' complaint not justiciable. Appellants directly appealed to this Court on the injunctive rulings, and appellee cross-appealed from the District Court's grant of declaratory relief to Roe and Hallford.

Norma McCorvey
Norma McCorvey was given the fictitious name Jane Roe to protect her identity during the Roe v. Wade trial. Today Norma is a Christian and a strong advocate for the pro-life movement. She has founded a pro-life ministry known as Crossing Over Ministry (Formerly known as Roe No More Ministry), and she is an active public speaker and participates in pro-life rallies. In fact, during a protest at the confirmation hearing in 2009 for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Norma McCorvey and another were arrested for disrupting the precedings. She has written a book titled "Won by Love" that discusses her pain related to the experience as Jane Roe and subsequent salvation, and is featured in a documentary titled Reversing Roe: "The Norma McCorvey Story" that may be viewed online.

Since becoming a Christian, she has admitted that she lied about being raped when issuing her lawsuit and says she was "used" by pro-choice activists. In an interview she exclaimed: “''Plain and simple, I was used. I was a nobody to them. They only needed a pregnant woman to use for their case, and that is it. They cared, not about me, but only about legalizing abortion.''”.

Life at Conception Act
In 2011, the Life at Conception Act was introduced to both the House of Representatives and the Senate in January of 2011. Its purpose is to implement equal protection for the right to life of each born and preborn human person under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution. Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”


 * H.R. 374: Life at Conception Act was introduced into Congress on January 20, 2011 by California representative Duncan Hunter and referred to committee for review.(Read H.R. 374) It declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being beginning at the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. It prohibits construing this Act to require the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
 * H.R. 212: Sanctity of Human Life Act was also introduced into Congress on January 07, 2011 by Georgia Representative Paul Broun and referred to committee for review (Read H.R. 212). It declares that: (1) the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human and is the person's paramount and most fundamental right; (2) each human life begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, at which time every human has all legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood; and (3) Congress, each state, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories have the authority to protect all human lives.
 * S. 91: Life at Conception Act was introduced into the Senate on January 25, 2012 by Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker.(Read S. 91) It declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being beginning at the moment of fertilization, cloning, and other moment at which an individual comes into being. Senator Rand Paul and Senator Roger Wicker both joined as original sponsors of the Act.

Many pro-life advocates, such as the National Pro-Life Alliance, assert that the Life at Conception Act is our best hope to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the US. By defining when life begins, the Act will effectively nullify the Supreme Courts ruling and provide unborn children protection under the existing constitution. In their ruling the Supreme Court admitted as much: "If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case [i.e. "Roe" who sought the abortion], of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment." The National Pro-Life Alliance has currently generated over 1.5 million petitions to Congress urging lawmakers to cosponsor and fight for passage of a Life at Conception Act. Sign the petition and help protect unborn children.

Presidential Opinions
Statement by US President Barack Obama on the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, January 22, 2012. As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right. While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue- no matter what our views, we must stay united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant woman and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption. And as we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.

U.S. 2008 presidential candidate John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, returning the abortion question to the individual states. He has stated publicly that, "At its core, abortion is a human tragedy."

Additional Information

 * EndRoe.org to promote a fuller understanding of what the Court did in Roe and Doe and why these fundamentally erroneous decisions must be corrected.
 * Napikoski, L. Norma McCorvey: The Woman Who Was Jane Roe About.com, Accessed June 29, 2012.
 * Norma McCorvey, Now 100% Pro-life! Priests for Life, Accessed June 29, 2012.
 * Who is 'Jane Roe'? CNN, June 18, 2003.

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