Title: Roe v. Wade (Decision January 22, 1973) | Subscript Law
Headings: Roe v. Wade (Decision January 22, 1973)
The celebrated and despised Supreme Court case on abortion
The case
Regulation vs. Liberty
The Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade
What else did the decision say?
The controversy over the due process clause
Years later: Jane Roe’s Change of Heart
The future – changes in medical science
More Information about Roe vs Wade
Roe v. Wade (Decision January 22, 1973)
About the Author
Mariam Morshedi
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Content: McCorvey argued a Texas law banning abortion, which had been enforced against her, was unconstitutional. The Texas law only allowed abortions if necessary to save the woman’s life. Regulation vs. Liberty
States are allowed to regulate a wide variety of actions in the interest of protecting people. But the Constitution limits the states’ rights to regulate. One of those limits is based on an individual’s right to liberty. In Roe v. Wade, McCorvey (Roe) argued the Constitution protected her liberty to choose to have an abortion, above the state’s right to regulate abortion. To an extent, the Supreme Court agreed. The Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court declared the right to an abortion is a fundamental liberty that the state must have a very strong interest to limit. Our Roe v. Wade infographic describes how the court balanced the liberty/abortion interest of the woman with the state’s interest in prenatal life. The Court ruled that the woman’s liberty right (right to control whether or not she is pregnant) is stronger than the state’s interest in the fetus’ life up until a certain point in the pregnancy.