Roe v Wade
Under the alias of Jane Roe, Norma McCorvey wanted an abortion. However, under Texas state law, it could only be done if the mother’s life was at risk. Roe’s main justification was that women should have the right to abortion under the “right to privacy” statement of the Constitution, but the government also sought to protect fetal life whenever possible. Roe sued District Attorney Henry Wade for this alleged breach of rights, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court even though a district court ruled in Roe’s favor previously.
Breakdown Verdict.
The court ruled 7-2 for Roe, and even though the case was initially thought of as moot (already resolved), the justices determined that it was “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” This means that The Court was, indeed, supposed to take another look at the case since pregnancy has a very short timeline in relation to the court and similar issues would arise again if it was dismissed. In their verdict, the justices maintained a similar verdict as the District Court. Authoring Justice Harry Blackmun stated that they must balance women’s health and the “potentiality of human life,” the main priority purely in context of the situation. For example, regulations of abortion would rely on trimesters after this case: as the pregnancy progresses, abortion freedoms generally decrease with the exception of health risks.
Result Going Forward.
Roe v Wade temporarily settled an ongoing issue in the United States, where abortion is a matter of both individual rights and religious beliefs. Political leaning during the ruling suggests theories of “judicial activism”, where the justices used their own beliefs to reach a consensus rather than using objective judgment. The decision was recently overturned by Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.
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