Norma McCorvey - Roe V. Wade

Roe V. Wade

In 1969, at the age of 21, while working low-paying jobs and living with her father, McCorvey became pregnant a third time. She returned to Dallas, where friends advised her to assert falsely that she had been raped, as she would then be eligible to obtain a legal abortion (with the understanding that Texas's pro-life laws allowed abortion in the cases of rape and incest). Due to lack of police evidence or documentation, the scheme was not successful and McCorvey would later admit the situation was a fabrication. She attempted to obtain an illegal abortion, but the respective clinics had been closed down by authorities.

Eventually, McCorvey was referred to attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington. The case took three years of trials to reach the United States Supreme Court. In the meantime, McCorvey had given birth to the baby in question, who was eventually adopted.

McCorvey revealed herself to the press as being "Jane Roe" of the decision within days of its issuance and stated that she sought an abortion because she was unemployable and greatly depressed. In the 1980s, McCorvey asserted that she had been the "pawn" of two young and ambitious lawyers (Weddington and Coffee) who were looking for a plaintiff with whom they could challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion.