Blog #10- The Judiciary

Roe v. Wade 

“The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters.”

Roe vs. Wade is a legal court case that established a woman’s right to privacy and legalized abortion.The case began in 1970 when Norma McCorvey  who went under the name of “Jane Roe” to protect her identity initiated legal action against Henry Wade, a district attorney of Dallas county, Texas, where Roe lived. The Supreme Court did not agree with Roe’s claim of her having the absolute right to terminate pregnancy for any reason unless her life was at risk. Because the Supreme Court wanted to regulate abortion, they tried to find a common ground that which balances a woman’s right of privacy with the state regulating abortion. Roe v. Wade was one of the first significant advances made in allowing women the right to privacy and choose what they would like for their bodies. This amendment made clear that limiting a women’s medical rights and decision for her body was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment as well as, to an extent, the Fourteenth Amendment, explaining that all women had a right to privacy. The Court ruled a 7-2 decision and that individual state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional. The decision was written by Justice Harry Blackmun, who spent almost ten years as the resident counsel for the Mayo Clinic. He believed that a woman has the right to make any choice she wishes regarding her pregnancy.

I chose the Roe vs. Wade case because abortion is one of the most controversial topics in the United States. I believe that a woman has the right to do whatever she wants with her body and it is not fair for men to decide how a woman should live her life.