Roe+v.+Wade+4th

= = = = = = = = = = = ROE VS WADE BACKGROUND OF THIS CASE =


 * - Roe v. wade was a landmark case decided by the Supreme Court on the issue about abortion. The case was argued December 13, 1971. It was reargued October 11, 1972. After a second round of arguments on January 22, 1973, the Court decided 7-2 in favor of Roe.
 * - On September, 1969 Norma L. McCorvey discovered that she was pregnant. In Dallas, TX her friends told her that she should say she had been raped, because then she would be able to have a legal abortion. But it failed because the police had no report that she was raped. In 1970 she turned to her attorney Coffee, and Weddington. They filed a suit in a U.S. District Court in Texas on behalf of Norma L. McCorvey (under the alias Jane Roe). McCorvey later said that she had not been raped. The defendant in the case was Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, representing the State of Texas. McCorvey was still hoping that the courts would rule in her favor so that she could have an abortion before it was too late. So she told her attorneys “let’s do it for the other women”. Eventually the Court decided 7-2 in favor of Roe.

** CONSTITUTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS CASE **


 * Abortion is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in Supreme Court history. The Court made their conclusions on a constitutional right to privacy from the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

** DECISION/PRECEDENT SET BY THIS CASE **

Seth Keith 2/25/10 Mrs. Dinwiddie period: 4
 * -The Supreme Court decided that a mother may decide to abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the fetus becomes viable (up until its 6 weeks old). After that time the abortion must be available when needed to protect a woman’s health. The Roe Court said that abortion was a fundamental right under the United States Constitution. The final decision of this court was favored to Roe.