Roe v. Wade

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Roe v. Wade
410 U.S. 113
Decided: 1973

Roe v. Wade (Jan. 22, 1973) was a U.S. Supreme Court decision which created a new right in the Constitution for a woman to have an abortion, in effect at any time during pregnancy. The Roe decision was issued the same day as Doe v. Bolton, a companion case, which held that states could not prohibit a physician from performing an abortion after the fetus has become "viable" if the physician determines that the abortion is necessary for the "health" of the mother, which could include "physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age," all of which the Court determined were "relevant to the wellbeing of the patient."

The women represented by "Roe" and "Doe" have both since come forward to oppose these decisions, and "Doe" has even described the deceit of the lawsuit brought in her name.

In addition to creating a new constitutional right, Roe v. Wade also created an exception to the usual rule that one must face a threat of imminent prosecution in order to have standing. In Roe, the Court held that there was standing because the alleged injury was said to be "capable of repetition yet evading review."

This decision is therefore one of the most famous examples of law by judicial fiat, that is judges writing the laws. It created a dangerous precedent that is still followed today of the 'living constitution."



The opinion, written by Justice Harry Blackmun, declares that abortion is a "fundamental right" under the U.S. Constitution and substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. Writing for the 7-2 Court, Justice Blackmun held that abortion is a fundamental right because it falls under the "penumbra" of the right to privacy. Roe provided the underpinning for cases such as Griswold v. Connecticut[1] and Lawrence v. Texas.[2], all of which set up spheres of personal activity which states cannot regulate without "good cause."

Specifically, Blackmun found that the right to terminate a pregnancy is in the penumbra of privacy rights protected by substantive due process, since pregnancy can occasion life-changing events for women, changes not to be taken lightly. However, he noted that the woman's interest in her own privacy is counterbalanced, obviously, by the fetus' interest in life, and the state's interest in protecting life. The question, then, is when each interest trumps the other, and what that means at law. Blackmun set up this framework specifically:


The "health of the mother" was defined to include the physical, psychological, and emotional health of the mother. There can be no requirement that the abortion reason be reported to anyone. The upshot is that any pregnant woman could get an abortion for any reason throughout the entire nine months as a constitutional right, provided that she could find an abortionist to do it.

Subsequent jurisprudence

The Roe holding was subsequently modified by Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a plurality decision which did away with the trimester framework, as well as lessening the degree of scrutiny of regulation from "fundamental rights" analysis to "undue burden analysis."

Recently the federal Partial Birth Abortion Act (upheld in Gonzales v. Carhart) approved a ban on a particular kind of late-term abortion procedure. This was the first complete ban on a particular abortion procedure found to be constitutional since Roe v. Wade.

Several cases, up for decision at the Supreme Court in the 2007 term, may whittle away at the holding of the case. Specifically, a South Dakota law banning nearly all abortions is seen as a deliberate attempt to force a test case, where "pro-life" activists will have a chance to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe.[4] However, while Roe may be highly distinguished in these cases, the fact that the central holding of Roe v. Wade is so important to modern civil rights jurisprudence suggests that the whole case is unlikely to be overturned in its entirety, based on the United States concept of stare decisis, or respect for legal precedent. Under this outlook, losing Roe's holding would be fatal to an entire constitutional structure, which the Court disfavors.[5]

Some commentators suggest that limitations of Roe may actually be good for the "pro-choice" movement, as it would allow "pro-life" activists to vent their animosity against judicial activism, while forcing the public to create a more moderate legislative solution to the problem. These commentators perceive the American public as more moderate than either the "pro-life" or "pro-choice" movements.[6]


Roe and subsequent decisions following it have incited intense public controversy over whether abortion is such a "fundamental right" that it overrides the right of a child to live, the right of a father to prevent the abortion of his child, and the right of states to legislate the issue in accord with the will of the people. Pro-choice activists generally argue that it does, while pro-life activists generally argue that it does not.

See Also

Norma McCorvey



  1. See generally Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479
  2. See, e.g., Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558
  3. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 165 (U.S. 1973)
  4. The Economist,
  5. See Lawrence v. Texas, supra (relying strongly on Roe v. Wade)
  6. The Economist,
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