Roe V. Wade Case Summary

Improved Essays
Facts: Texas law made it a crime to obtain or attempt an abortions except if it was approved by medical advice to save the life of the mother. From 1951-1987 “Jane Roe” the legal alias for Norma McCorvey the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade. McCorvey filed court documents stating that the laws were unconstitutional. Roe wanted to prevent Henry WADE, the district attorney of Dallas County, from enforcing the law from banning abortion, expect to save a woman’s life. The plaintiff alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant, wasn’t able to receive an abortion by a legal and licensed physician. Roe sued on behalf of all other with likewise situation appealing that the laws were unconstitutionally unclear, and abridged her right of personal privacy protected …show more content…
But, due to Texas laws Roe was challenged to bring a class action suit toward the constitutionality of the Texas abortion laws to legality of a woman’s right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. Roe worked with two eager young lawyers fresh out of law school. Roe sued on behalf of all woman equally situated in effort to prevent Texas laws from banning abortions except if it was approved by medical advice to save the life of the mother. (casebriefs, 2015)
Issue: Was Texas law prohibiting, violating the constitutional rights of all women to terminate her pregnancy of personal liberty contained in the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, in the personal marital, familial, and sexual privacy protected by the of Rights or it’s penumbras, or among the right reserved to the people by the Ninth Amendment? (casebriefs, 2015)
Rule of Law: Laws that makes criminal all abortions except when medically counseled for the purpose of saving the life of the mother are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. (casebriefs,

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Roe Vs Wade Research Paper

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Legislators across the country were moving to restrict abortion as they felt an obligation to preserve the pro-life nature of their respective states. However, many of these restrictions were struck down by the Supreme Court, including the statutes requiring parental and spousal consent as it was determined those restrictions were violations of the woman’s right to privacy. This trend of state restrictions being passed and judicial review striking them down continued throughout the Twentieth Century and on into the Twenty-First…

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They then continued with asking that the state forbid the district attorney from prosecuting any other women under the same law (Roe vs. Wade, 2011). After the review of the case and to the surprise of many, the judge panel ruled to the favor of McCorvey. Their analysis on the case stated that the law did violate her constitutional rights to privacy. Following the case, the court ruled that the ninth and fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution guaranteed privacy rights that were large enough to protect a women 's rights to having an abortion. Although the first request was granted the second was not as easy.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    b. Social Reform in Women’s Rights & Abortion Roe v. Wade, a case regarding a pregnant single woman, Roe, challenges the constitutionality of Texas criminal abortion laws, which would not perform abortions unless the pregnancy would put the mother’s life in risk or if medical advice is given to the mother to not carry out her pregnancy. The rulings of this case was 7-2 in favor of Roe, the court states that it was unconstitutional because it violated the 14th Amendment for Texas’ state abortion laws to only allow forth abortions only when the mother’s life is at stake(Roe v. Wade). The court ruled that women have the right of privacy when it came to deciding whether they should bear children. The court also decided that the woman’s health is in the interest of the state, that the woman can decide up to the second trimester whether or not to undergo an abortion, but when the third trimester start, the state has the right to preserve the fetus’ life unless…

    • 1832 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The court’s decision to grant declaratory relief to Hallford may have been the cause of the debate to overrule the case of Roe vs. Wade. The court had received a case in which Roe, a single mother, had brought a class action challenging the constitutional nature of the laws in Texas that banned abortion. According to the laws, the clear guidelines to what an abortion unrecognized by law was that which was procured or attempted on grounds other than that of medical advice from the doctor for the purpose of saving a life. Another party, the Does, a childless couple joined the fight against the abortion laws on the grounds of issues such as contraceptive failure, impairment of woman's health and unprepared pregnancies that led to premature parenthood. Another party, Hallford who was a licensed physician with two abortion prosecutions against him also joined the case challenging the Texas laws.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These parties both stated that certain amendments proved that the texas law was not following the constitution. The amendments that were explained in depth were the ninth and fourteenth amendments. The ninth amendment protects all unenumerated rights, while the fourteenth states that citizens cannot have their life, liberty or property taken without due process by law. These two amendments were explained specifically in the case by mentioning the,"fundamental right of single women and married persons to choose whether to have children is protected by the Ninth Amendment, through the Fourteenth Amendment,". This statement was explained by the District Court and also followed the statement with, “ the Texas criminal abortion statutes were void on their face because they were both unconstitutionally…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, courts ruled that state laws limiting abortion to rape and life threatening complications, was unconstitutional and violated women’s liberties. However, states were allowed to restrict abortions once the fetus reached the point of viability. This decision was justified based on idea that states were preserving the life of an unborn child, which led fetal rights. Currently, many states have the right to enact laws to amend homicide statutes to include fetuses, define fetus as human being; and permit civil law suits for causing harm to a fetus (LSRJ, 2009). Many argue that these rights infringe on the liberties of women.…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Roe Vs Wade Research Paper

    • 2432 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Wade, one of the most fundamentally private and personal decisions women could make was being decided for them by doctors and lawyers who did not and often could not understand the positions they were in. Roe v. Wade was able to strike down anti-abortion laws violating the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment, granting equal protection under the law to all American citizens . Roe v. Wade did more for women than legalize abortion; it increased their right to privacy which had been previously established in Griswold v. Connecticut, it took the danger out of making a purely personal decision, and most importantly, it granted them the right to a personal autonomy that had been long denied .This personal autonomy, their newfound right to control their future and the future of their families, allowed women to take on new roles in society as the traditional expectations of motherhood stopped weighing them down and the newfound reproductive liberties benefitted every aspect of their lives. However, the benefits of Roe v. Wade only impacted the women who were able to afford abortions, as the trial did not address the difficulties many women faced affording the procedure. Roe v. Wade also brought abortion to the public eye, increasing the controversy surrounding it and subsequently the stigma surrounding the women seeking to obtain it.…

    • 2432 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roe Vs Wade Research Paper

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Wade the legality of the Constitution became a huge part of the case and how it was interpreted by different individuals. The final outcome in this case was based strictly on technicality and different interpretations of the Constitution. “Roe vs Wade arose from issue that came up in Texas Law on the issue of Abortion in 1973.”(Tompkins 101) “ Although this cased was based on why women should be able to have abortions, Norma McCorvey “Jane Roe” actually never had an abortion.” (Tompkins 107)…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They also asked the court to forbid the district attorney from prosecuting anyone else under the Texas abortion law in the future. Texas ruled in favor of Roe on the grounds that the law violated her constitutional rights to privacy. The court ruled that the 9th Amendment and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution guaranteed privacy rights that were broad enough to protect a woman's choice to have an abortion because the district court refused to forbid future prosecutions for abortion. Roe and her attorneys appealed to the US Supreme Court. Wade also appealed the decision.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wade. These restrictions were left up to individual states. The Supreme Court found that a Texas law prohibiting abortion violated the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause stating that the government cannot take a person’s rights to life, liberty, and property. The 14th amendment was also said to protect the right to privacy against state action. This included a woman’s right to end her pregnancy.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    bortion has been debated before the Roe v. Wade ruling; it has been a debate throughout history. Abortion is “...a procedure performed to end a pregnancy before birth occurs.” The procedure is dependant on the women’s “...choice, health, and how long she has been pregnant… [and] the legality of the procedure.” There are two methods of abortion performed: medical abortion and surgical abortion. A medical abortion is a procedure where drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol are used in order to end a pregnancy.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All because of this law Ms. Roe had to leave out her current state and have a medical enhanced safe environment to eliminate her pregnancy. There was another case that caused much attention during its course of action. The Gonzales v. Carhart case, the supreme court stated that, upholding a federal ban vote, would give several restricts on abortion victories. Not only that, but it would also have other states to pass and submit that unbreakable…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abortion In Texas Essay

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many women in Texas seek to get an abortion every day. Abortion has become one of the leading social issues of the state. Texas has always been highly against abortions, but abortion was not legalized in Texas until 1973. Roe v. Wade was the court case that changed the issue of abortion not only in Texas but forty-six other states. The Supreme Court had come to a seven to two decision, recognizing that under the fourteenth amendment of the U.S Constitution, it was, in fact, legal for a woman to have an abortion.…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Roe V. Wade Case

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Whether or not women should have the right to an abortion is an argument that is on the news a lot nowadays. This argument dates back to the early 1970s and the Roe v. Wade court case. In fact, the Roe v. Wade case is one of the most talked about supreme court cases to date. It took place in Texas, where state law only allowed abortion to save the life of the mother. “Jane Roe”, a pseudonym for the appellant, wanted to have an abortion.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The case was in court for approximately 2 years, and finally a decision was made. The court was in favor of Jane Roe, with a 7-2 vote. The justices voted that taking away a woman’s right to have an abortion was a violation of the ninth and 14th amendments. But the practice of abortion was restricted during the third trimester of a pregnancy. As soon as this ruling was determined, an opposition was emerged.…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays