Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade was the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized a constitutional right to abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court overturned it in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.

Trimester framework: A legal framework that divided pregnancy into three stages and assigned governments different regulatory powers at each stage. Roe used this framework to balance abortion access against state interests as pregnancy progressed.
Texas abortion law of 1857: A Texas statute criminalizing abortion except when performed to save the pregnant woman’s life. The challenged law supplied the legal restriction Roe invalidated.
Hyde Amendment: A recurring federal appropriations provision restricting federal funding for most abortions. The amendment became a major policy response to public conflict over abortion after Roe.
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services: The 1989 Supreme Court decision upholding several Missouri abortion restrictions and permitting greater state regulation. Webster signaled limits on Roe’s practical reach without overruling its central holding.
Fourteenth Amendment: A U.S. constitutional amendment guaranteeing citizenship, due process, and equal protection. Roe located its protected liberty interest in the amendment’s Due Process Clause.
Sarah Weddington: The Texas attorney who argued for Norma McCorvey before the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Weddington developed and presented the constitutional challenge to Texas’s abortion law.
March for Life: An annual anti-abortion demonstration held in Washington, D.C., near the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The march institutionalized public opposition to Roe and commemorated its decision date.
Gonzales v. Carhart: The 2007 Supreme Court decision upholding a federal prohibition on a particular abortion procedure. The decision illustrates how later doctrine allowed restrictions while Roe remained formally in force.
Right to privacy: A constitutional doctrine protecting certain personal decisions from government interference. Roe treated abortion choice as part of the constitutional privacy interests recognized in earlier cases.
Norma McCorvey: The Texas woman identified as Jane Roe in the litigation that became Roe v. Wade. McCorvey was the named plaintiff whose pregnancy and challenge brought the case to court.

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