Jonah Patel
Roe v. Wade was a landmark 1973 US Supreme Court case that ruled that restricting access to abortion was unconstitutional. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey (under the alias Jane Roe) who, in 1969, became pregnant with her third child and wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was only legal to save the mother's life. The ruling held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a constitutional right to privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision was unpopular and politically toxic, and the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has been widely criticized.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of ruling | 22 January 1973 |
| Ruling body | U.S. Supreme Court |
| Decision | 7-2 in favour of Roe |
| Outcome | Abortion decriminalised nationwide |
| Constitutional basis | Fourteenth Amendment |
| Subsequent challenges | Multiple, including Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992) and Gonzales v. Carhart (2007) |
| Overturned by | Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) |
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What You'll Learn
The right to privacy
Roe v. Wade was a landmark legal case in the United States that centred on the issue of abortion and a woman's right to privacy. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey (under the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe") in 1969, when she became pregnant with her third child and wanted an abortion. At the time, abortion was illegal in Texas unless it was necessary to save the mother's life.
The case ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a 7-2 decision in McCorvey's favour in January 1973. The Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy", which protects a pregnant woman's decision-making regarding abortion. This right to privacy was deemed implicit in the liberty guarantee of the Due Process Clause, which states that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law".
The Roe v. Wade decision thus established a constitutional right to abortion, holding that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. This meant that abortion was decriminalised and women were free to access safe and legal abortions without fear of prosecution. The ruling also affirmed the principle that the Constitution protects an individual's right to make their own private medical decisions, including the decision to have an abortion prior to fetal viability.
However, despite the ruling in Roe v. Wade, many states continued to pass laws that made accessing abortion difficult. Additionally, there were repeated legal challenges to Roe v. Wade, which narrowed the decision's scope over time. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. This decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization allowed states to ban or severely restrict abortion, impacting access for millions of women.
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The Fourteenth Amendment
Roe v. Wade was a landmark 1973 US Supreme Court case that ruled that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey, under the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", who, in 1969, became pregnant with her third child. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was only legal when necessary to save the mother's life.
The Roe v. Wade decision held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a fundamental right to privacy, which protects a pregnant woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. The Fourteenth Amendment states that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. The Supreme Court interpreted this to mean that the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause includes the freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life, which necessarily includes the right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
The Roe v. Wade decision was controversial and sparked public opposition and academic criticism. Opponents of the decision argued that it lacked a valid constitutional foundation and that the Supreme Court overreached by issuing an all-encompassing ruling rather than allowing the issue to be decided by state legislatures. Supporters of the decision, on the other hand, argued that it accurately found a right to abortion in the Fourteenth Amendment, even if that right could also be supported by other portions of the Constitution.
Despite the controversy, the Roe v. Wade decision stood for nearly five decades, with the Supreme Court reaffirming constitutional protection of abortion access in multiple key abortion rights cases during that time. However, the makeup of the Supreme Court changed between 2016 and 2020, with the appointment of three new justices known for their opposition to reproductive rights. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and ending the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
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The Ninth Amendment
Roe v. Wade was a landmark case in 1973 that centred on the constitutionality of abortion laws in Texas. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey, under the alias "Jane Roe", who wished to have an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was only legal when necessary to save the mother's life.
The case was heard by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which ruled in her favour, finding that the Texas law violated Roe's right to privacy, which was inherent in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also located this right in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, stating that the Constitution protects an individual's "zones of privacy". This right was deemed broad enough to encompass a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy.
The District Court's decision was appealed to the Supreme Court, which issued a 7-2 decision in McCorvey's favour, holding that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides a fundamental "right to privacy", which protects a pregnant woman's choice to have an abortion. This right, however, was limited by the state's interest in maternal health and fetal life as the pregnancy progressed.
The Roe v. Wade decision has been highly controversial and sparked debates around ethics, religion, biology, and constitutional law. It inspired political campaigns and movements and remained one of the most contentious issues in the public sphere for almost five decades until it was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
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The mootness doctrine
Roe v. Wade is a landmark case in abortion law. In 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution's right to privacy also provided a right to abortion. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey, who, under the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", filed a lawsuit against her local district attorney, Henry Wade, alleging that Texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional.
There are two types of mootness: Article III mootness and prudential mootness. Article III mootness refers to the justiciability of a case or controversy. Prudential mootness refers to the judiciary's discretion to grant (or not grant) relief in a case that is technically justiciable. For example, a court may decide that a case is moot because a defendant has voluntarily ceased their alleged wrongful conduct, even though they could resume it later.
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court determined that the case qualified as an exception to the mootness doctrine. The Court noted that the average gestation period of pregnancy was typically shorter than the usual appellate process. Therefore, the Court held that pregnancy falls under the "capable of repetition, yet evading review" exception to the mootness doctrine.
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The power balance between men and women
Roe v. Wade was a landmark case in the United States, where the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. The case was brought by Norma McCorvey, who, under the alias "Jane Roe", challenged the Texas abortion laws that only allowed abortion to save the mother's life. The Supreme Court's decision decriminalized abortion, protecting the right to access abortion legally across the country.
Opponents of Roe v. Wade argue that the decision lacks a valid constitutional foundation. They believe that the Constitution does not address abortion, and that state legislatures should find solutions through the legislative process rather than a broad ruling from the Supreme Court. The power dynamics between men and women are also reflected in the criticism that Roe v. Wade sparked public opposition and academic criticism because it ordered a significant change and provided an incomplete justification.
The impact of Roe v. Wade extended beyond the legal realm, shaping the debate on the methods of constitutional adjudication by the Supreme Court. The case highlighted the complexity of interpreting the Constitution and the challenges of balancing the rights of different groups. The power balance between men and women was a critical consideration, as the Court's decision had far-reaching implications for women's equality, healthcare, and reproductive rights.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion in the United States. This decision shifted the power balance between men and women, as it allowed states to impose restrictions on abortion access, impacting women's ability to make their own medical decisions. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has had a disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, including Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, exacerbating existing inequalities and limiting access to healthcare.
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Frequently asked questions
Roe v. Wade is the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973.
The constitutional issue in Roe vs Wade was whether the Constitution protects a person's right to privacy and make their own private medical decisions, including the decision to have an abortion.
The outcome of Roe vs Wade was that the Supreme Court ruled that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional, as it violates a constitutional right to privacy.
The impact of Roe vs Wade was that safe and legal abortion became a recognized federal constitutional right nationwide for nearly 50 years.
