The Supreme Court
Roe vs. Wade: Women’s Right to an Abortion
HIS 303 – The American Constitution
Professor Cruz
December 15, 2007
The Supreme Court
Roe vs. Wade: Women’s Right to an Abortion
In this case study we will examine the following with respect to the supreme court case of Roe vs. Wade; I will introduce the case with a brief background that will include taking a look at the parties involved and the point at issue, the constitutional question raised by this case, a summary of the courts decision and evaluate the decision’s constitutional significance, and to conclude this report I will give you a brief summary of the case and my opinions and thoughts.
The Roe vs. Wade case is based on women’s rights to an abortion. In an article online line at About.com Jone Johnson Lewis helped us understand who Roe and Wade are. Lewis states that "Jane Roe" was an alias used for Norma McCorvey, on whose behalf the suit was originally filed, alleging that the abortion law in Texas violated her constitutional rights and the rights of other women. The defendant was the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, Henry B. Wade (¶ 4). To summarize this case it was basically a battle to legalize abortion in the United States; to give women the right to choose to have an abortion. At the time abortion was illegal in many states and had limitation in the states that it was legal. For example in the states where is was legal to have abortions, a woman could only have an abortion it there was risk of death or health complications, in other words if the mother was at risk of dying due to her pregnancy it then would be legal to terminate the pregnancy.
Constitutional Questions Raised
The constitutional question raised was the violation of the Ninth Amendment and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The constitution was written to protect these rights and the Supreme Court had to abide by these laws in order to be just. In a legal document found on...