Abortion: The Legalization Of Roe V. Wade

Imagine being trapped in a situation in which you had absolutely no control over your own body. Imagine having to carry and birth a child that you were not ready to have. At one point in time, women had no choice but to endure their often unwanted pregnancies. The only options after the birth were adoption or raising the child. It was not until 1973, that one brave woman decided to confront the notion of legalized abortion and the right for women to choose what happens to their own bodies. Norma McCorvey (who later became Jane Roe to protect her identity) was an unmarried pregnant woman from Texas. In 1970, under Texas law, it was unacceptable for her to have an abortion (Napikoski).Texas law stated that it was a felony to abort the fetus unless “on medical advice for saving the life of the mother” (Barnett). The state of Texas violated Roe’s Fourteenth Amendment by denying her due process, as well as her Ninth Amendment by not respecting the privacy of her own body. The Roe v Wade decision to make abortion legal was monumental for most women because it finally gave them rights to their own bodies.
Not only did Roe v Wade bring about change in Texas, it also brought up a major constitutional …show more content…
The key players in the case were Jane Roe, Sarah Weddington, Linda Coffee, and Henry Wade. Weddington and Coffee were Roe 's lawyers in her case. Wade was the district attorney of Dallas County; Roe sued him because he enforced the law that prohibited women from having an abortion. In a seven-to-two vote, nine Supreme Court justices made the decision in Roe 's Favor. Justices Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Lewis F. Powell Jr, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Orville Douglas, Potter Stewart voted in favor of Roe, but unlike the other seven, William H Rennquist, and Bryon White did not agree and voted not in favor