Roe v. Wade THE SUPREME COURT CASE THAT CHANGED THE COUNTRY ETHAN F.
The Life, The Right, The Fight Every time you turn on the television at home, what do you see?
“Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building, it is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society. It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists...it is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.”
- Justice Lewis F. Powell
Most likely, you have heard through news stories, television, or radio broadcasts that a new president is inches away from being in the Oval Office. With weekday debates in town halls, these candidates are being asked questions spanning from foreign issues to economic growth and support. These hopeful candidates will discuss the most important topics of our country including terrorism, the economy, healthcare, gay rights, and one of the “hottest” topics, abortion. Abortion is a procedure where a woman’s pregnancy is aborted, or ended by operation. Since the 1970’s, millions of abortions have been carried out in the lives of women throughout the United States, and companies have risen from the dust to support abortion. Pro-life and Pro-choice are two opinions that have been argued since the very essence of the idea of it. However, who, really, gets to make the decision on whether the constitution gives women the right to abort their unborn baby? The answer is, the Supreme Court, and since the 1970’s, people have been trying to tear down the world-changing abortion case of Roe v. Wade.
Portrait of Associate justice Powell
What was Roe v. Wade?
At the time of Roe v. Wade,
How does the Supreme Court work when they are presented with cases of this importance?
most states had either abolished or seTo have a case heard in the Suverely restricted the practice of abortion. preme Court of the United States, it must Only six states allowed for abortions to grant certiorari, permission to be heard. be carried out, and Texas was not one of However, before the Court hears a case, those states. Norma McCorvey, also they must look over the case, review briefs, known throughout the case as “Jane observe lower court opinions, and must Roe” was pregnant single woman from vote on whether to hear the case or not Texas and was denied a termination of based on the information provided. With her pregnancy because of Texas abortion not only their peers, but the country pushing them, the Court further regulations, which stated moved to hear the case in Dethat an abortion shall not cember of 1971. For years and be administered to a years, the Court had been given woman unless the life of very few cases on abortion bethe mother could potencause states declared their inditially be threatened. Roe, vidual abortion laws. Some along with her lawyer, states restricted abortions, others Sarah Wedding, filed a limited it, and some allowed lawsuit against Dallas abortions. The justices, during County District Attorney, the time, really had no standing Henry Wade. Roe left a because of the extremely few Texas federal court victocases on abortion brought before rious, and an upset Wade them. However, when subjects filed the case to the Suof matter do come before the preme Court for certioraCourt, they have many difri. Certiorari, permis- Jane Roe with her lawyer in ferent sources to influence sion to hear a case, 1971 their opinions. These influwas granted, and The ences include previous Court Burger Court of 1971 and 1972 would decisions, decisions and public opinions, further rule whether or not several Texas ideology, and much more. According to abortion laws were unconstitutional. current Associate Justice, Clarence ThomWeddington, Jay Floyd, the Assistant as, “...justices, 99% of the time, have their Attorney General of Texas and first ad- minds made up before they go to the vocate for Wade, and Robert C. Flowers, bench.” If this is true, it would seem that second advocate for Wade, debated over the oral arguments presented during cases the course of two case hearings whether rarely ever make up the mind of the Justicor not the regulations were constitution- es. However, ideology does not necessarily al. The Supreme Court, with only two make or break the entire Court’s decision. justices dissenting, ruled that the Texas Associate Justice Harry Blackmun, while abortion laws were unconstitutional and nominated by conservative president, Richmade it so abortion was legalized ard Nixon, and projected to side more to the right, he was known as one of the most liberal justices to have ever served on the Court. After opinions and briefs have been read, oral arguments have been presented, and questions have been asked, the Justices retire to their conference. The Justices’ Conference is an extremely secretive and unknown process. All nine of them are in one room surrounding one table. This table is the place where the history changing decisions are made that conclude the further direction of our country. In order of seniority, each Justice delivers a short opinion on how the case should turn out. Then, starting with the Chief Justice and descendThe Supreme Court ing in seniority, each of them cast their In Session vote. A decision is made by a simple majority vote. The Chief Justice further as-
Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood is a health care provider and teacher to women and men all around the world. Founded in October of 1916 , this Brooklyn organization has been loved by many and hated by others. Its goal is to provide the education that so many young men and women need. While it may seem like a place where people can go to learn more about reproductive health care, it performs abortions as well, and this act makes it a huge target for those Pro-life spokesmen and women.
signs someone in the majority to write the opinion, what the court has decided, and one person in the minority to write the dissent, the opinion of the minority vote. Both reviews are published for the public eye, but the opinion is the final word of the Court and delivers the ruling. “The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender.” - Justice Sandra Day O’Conner
What did the Court rule, and what were the Justices own opinions? The Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that the Texas laws were unconstitutional and further made it so abortion was legal throughout the entire country. Across the country, the news would be spread that Roe had won in a 7-2 vote, and abortion was now legalized. While the ruling may seem like a home run for most liberals and pro-choice activists, this ruling was far from expected, let alone with only two justices dissenting. With Harry Blackmun writing the opinion and William Rehnquist forming the dissent, the two made very different pieces of writing explaining why they felt obligated to choose their side on the issue. To start with the Opinion, Justice Blackmun gave an overview of the case and other cases to their entirety over the course of more than four dozen pages of literature. Knowing this would be one of the most read, reviewed, and picked apart opinions the Court may ever present to the public, Blackmun figured that every detail must be perfectly worded in a way that the Court and the public would have no confusion over the means and definition of his work. Citing other cases and the importance of stare decisis precedent in his review quite often, he made definite, the reasons, why the Court had to abandon the previous justifications of a century’s amount of judicial review. Further clarifying what, exactly, the restrictions on abortion would be, the Court decided abortion could not be regulated within the time period of the first trimester and could only be regulated “reasonably” during the second and third trimesters. The Court’s definition of “reasonably” is further defined within the many articles of the opinion. While the Supreme Court’s opinion document may have the power of the law by its side, the dissent is often referred to as being even mightier and more influential than the review. Yes, the opinion does give precedent to further cases down the road. However, the writer of the dissent is able to capture the eyes of the beholder in a way no opinion will ever be able to find. Dissents are written as pieces of art, music to the ears of those who agree, and a way to further influence the beliefs of the public, politicians, and further Justices down the road. Recently departed Justice Antonin Scalia was widely known, by far, more for
his dissents than his opinions. When writing opinions, he was said to have less fluid and dull words and definitions. Dissenting, on the contrary, was what he lived for. Speaking in “colorful language” and being able to stand out among the crowd in a way others did not throughout his dissents was what he will be remembered for centuries to come. Justice Rehnquiste, an Associate Justice at the time, used this opportunity to his advantage by not stating what he specifically believed in, but what the Constitution and other cases before them had concluded. He, in detail, was able to capture each piece of the opinion and prove, in his mind, why the other justices were wrong. With all this in the making for the past few months, on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court made public their ruling, and this would become one of the most debated and controversial topic for the decades to come..
How did this case affect the future of our country? Often, it is considered that the more conservative one is, the more likely they are to be pro-life. Furthermore, most consider those who are pro-choice, more liberal. In the United States today, these two sides rule the political class in the three branches of government. The liberals, often identifying with the Democratic Party, and the conservatives who call themselves Republicans, control the majority of the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches. During presidential and legislative campaigns, abortion is often very commonly debated.
Most Republicans promise to replace Supreme Court Justices with more right-leaning justices and promise to overturn Roe v. Wade completely. However, Democrats often do the exact opposite and promise to uphold the case and elect liberal courts. An example of this deals with one Justice, Antonin Scalia, who died in his sleep in early February of 2016. Before his funeral or ceremonies honoring his life even began, Republicans and Democrats began fighting over who will replace him. The Republican Party hopes that the new Justice will overturn cases that fought their beliefs, like Roe and other abortion cases. For the most part, they are stating that everyone should wait for a new president to be elected, hoping that a new, Republican president will nominate a Justice that is just as right -wing as Antonin Scalia was and to tip the ideology of the Supreme Court more conservatively. To combat this, Democrats are stating that the Republicans are taking away the constitutional liberties of the current sitting president, Barack Obama, and that waiting for a potential conservative Justice could make so many cases like Roe, completely mute to the eyes of the public. While Roe was monumental to the country’s position, there may always be fighting and arguments over what really should have happened. Perhaps, one day, it will be overturned, but for now, abortion is legal and will be as long as the Supreme Court upholds its ruling from 1973.
Works Cited - Cole, David. The Power of a Supreme Court Dissent. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. - Cornell University Law School. Roe v. Wade. Ed. Amelia C. Hritz. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. - Lawnix. Roe v. Wade Breakdown . N.p., 2005. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. - PBS. The Court and Democracy. Ed. Judy Woodruff. N.p., Dec. 2006. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. - The Supreme Court of the United States. Roe v. Wade Transcripts . N.p., 11 Oct. 1972. Web. 17 Feb. - Smith, Allen. Society for Human Resource Management . Ed. Aliah D. Wright. N.p., 4 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.