Landmark Supreme Court Case · Privacy and due process
Roe v. Wade (1973)
- Decided
- 1973
- Vote
- 7–2
- Opinion
- Justice Harry Blackmun
- Constitutional provisions
Facts of the case
A Texas law made it a crime to perform an abortion except to save the mother's life. Norma McCorvey, using the pseudonym "Jane Roe," sued Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, arguing that the law violated her constitutional rights.
The constitutional question
Does the Constitution protect a woman's right to choose to have an abortion?
The decision
Yes, the Court held at the time. It ruled that the right of privacy, found in the 14th Amendment's concept of personal liberty, included a woman's decision whether to end a pregnancy. States could regulate abortion under a trimester framework, with more regulation allowed as pregnancy advanced.
The Court's reasoning
The majority built on earlier privacy cases such as Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). It balanced the woman's privacy right against the state's interests in maternal health and potential life.
Why it matters
It limited state abortion laws nationwide for nearly 50 years and became one of the most debated decisions in American history. Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) replaced the trimester framework with an "undue burden" standard. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), the Court overruled Roe and Casey, holding that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returning the issue to the people and their elected representatives.