Title: Roe v. Wade Case Summary: What You Need to Know - FindLaw
Headings: Roe v. Wade Case Summary: What You Need to Know
Roe v. Wade Case Summary: What You Need to Know
Legal Arguments
Texas Defends Abortion Restriction
Roe Claims Absolute Privacy Rights for Women
How The Supreme Court Decided Roe v. Wade
Significance of Roe v Wade
Interesting Facts
Public Reactions
Related Cases
Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt

Content: Below, we outline the main arguments. Texas Defends Abortion Restriction
The state put forth three main arguments in its case to defend the abortion statute: States have an interest in safeguarding health, maintaining medical standards, and protecting prenatal life
A fetus is a "person" protected by the 14th Amendment
Protecting prenatal life from the time of conception is a compelling state interest
Roe Claims Absolute Privacy Rights for Women
Jane Roe and the others involved based their case on the following arguments: The Texas law invaded an individual's right to "liberty" under the 14th Amendment
The Texas law infringed on women's rights to marital, familial, and sexual privacy guaranteed by the Bill of Rights
The right to an abortion is absolute - women are entitled to end a pregnancy at any time, for any reason, in any way they choose
How The Supreme Court Decided Roe v. Wade
The Court split the difference between the two arguments presented. First, the Court recognized that abortion does fall under women's privacy rights. The constitutional right to privacy comes from the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Due Process Clause does not explicitly state that Americans have a right to privacy. However, the Supreme Court has recognized such a right going all the way back to 1891. Just one year before Roe , the Supreme Court held that "in a Constitution for a free people, there can be no doubt that the meaning of 'liberty' must be broad indeed." In Roe v. Wade, the Court decided that this right to privacy extends to a woman's control over a pregnancy.