Title: Roe v. Wade :: 410 U.S. 113 (1973) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Headings: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
Annotation
Majority
Dissent
Dissent
Concurrence
Concurrence
Concurrence
Opinions Audio & Media
U.S. Supreme Court
Argued December 13, 1971
Reargued October 11, 1972
Decided January 22, 1973
410 U.S. 113
Syllabus

Content: However, the district court refrained from issuing an injunction to prevent the state from enforcing the law, leaving the matter unresolved. Attorneys
Linda Coffee (plaintiff)
Sarah Weddington (plaintiff)
Jay Floyd (defendant)
Issues & Holdings
Issue: Whether a plaintiff still has standing to bring a case based on her pregnancy once she has given birth. Holding: Yes. The mootness doctrine does not bar her case from being heard, even though this individual plaintiff's position would no longer be affected, and she did not have an actual case or controversy. This situation fits within the exception to the mootness rule that covers wrongs that are capable of repetition yet evading review. Most cases are not heard through to appeal in a period shorter than a pregnancy, so strictly applying the mootness doctrine would prevent these issues from ever being resolved. Opinions
Majority
Harry Andrew Blackmun (Author)
Warren Earl Burger
William Orville Douglas
William Joseph Brennan, Jr.
Potter Stewart
Thurgood Marshall
Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.
The majority found that strict scrutiny was appropriate when reviewing restrictions on abortion, since it is part of the fundamental right of privacy. Blackmun was uninterested in identifying the exact part of the Constitution where the right of privacy can be found, although he noted that the Court had previously located it in the Fourteenth rather than the Ninth Amendment.