Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Texas

Re: Abortion

Norma McCorvey (the "Roe" in Roe vs. Wade)was a pregnant 21-year-old woman with a 10th grade education � too poor to get an illegal abortion in Texas, or a legal one in California.

Texas law forbade abortion except in the case where the life of the mother was threatened. McCorvey�s plight provided a stage for pro-abortionists to challenge the Texas courts. The testimony of a poor young woman was ideal for Planned Parenthood�s case. What American would not be moved with sympathy by McCorvey�s testimony of being raped by three men and a woman?

In March, 1970, McCorvey filed a lawsuit on behalf of herself and �all other women similarly situated.� Her case set the wheels in motion towards overruling the 100-year-old abortion law.

In the meantime, McCorvey had given birth to her child and put the baby up for adoption. She was forced to give birth, according to court records, because of the length of the court case and the decision-making process.

Although she gave birth, McCorvey filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, and was represented by Sarah Weddington, a prominent Dallas attorney.

Roe vs. Wade signaled not only a broader interpretation of the �right to privacy� � to include a woman�s right to terminate her pregnancy � but swept in an era of judicial activism. The Court held that the fetus has no right of its own to claim protection, and redefined �life� for children and adults.

In 1987, McCorvey told Washington Times columnist Carl Rowan that the Roe decision was based on false testimony. She admitted that her account of being raped in 1969 was a fabrication designed to invalidate the law. Instead, she confessed that she had become pregnant by her boyfriend.