STATUTORY HEALTHCARE

Roe V. Healthcare; The Role of Judiciary in the Medical Field

Abstract

The Supreme Court, on January 22, 1973 decided one of its most controversial cases in U.S. history, but the contest was just beginning. The case of Jane Roe v. Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade was not only symbolic of the progress of women's rights, but an indication of judicial activism and its potentially damaging effects. It began as a fight for an unmarried young woman and her desire to terminate her pregnancy, even though it did not pose serious physical dangers posed to their health. However in the course of this struggle, something unprecedented occurred, the judiciary involved itself. This paper will first offer the necessary expository information, highlighting the central characters in this historical case, the political climate of the Supreme Court Justices during the trial, as well as a earlier case, Griswold v Connecticut which preceded Roe v. Wade and had a great affect on its ruling.

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Roe v Wade and Its Effects3

'The Abortion Argument'5

'Partial Birth Abortion Act'6

Conclusion7

End Notes8

Roe V. Healthcare; The Role of Judiciary in the Medical Field

Introduction

This paper will discuss the proceedings of the case at both the Supreme as well as District Court level. Its purpose is to debate on the legal issues of abortion controversy and how Roe has formed a precedent for future cases (Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Stenberg v. Carhart, and the breaking news decision of Gonzales v. Carhart), and the implied right(s) of the Constitution.

In the 1970s, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, two young lawyers from Texas, recruited Norma McCorvey as lead plaintiff under the alias “Jane Roe” in lawsuit on behalf of U.S. women everywhere. The defendant was Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and the Supreme Court at the time of the trial was lead by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, along with Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr., Harry Blackmun, and William H. Rehnquist, and the most senior member of the court was William O. Douglas, appointed by President Roosevelt in 1939.

Roe v Wade and Its Effects

The political climate of the Court was considered to be far more liberal than it has been in recent years; three concurring Justices from Roe v. Wade also presided over the 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut, held over a Connecticut law which prohibited the use of birth control to infringe upon the right to conjugal privacy. The District Court ruled in support of Roe, but did not award a restriction opposing the enforcement of the law which bars abortion. The Court ruled on the basis of the Ninth Amendment and the previous decision of Griswold v. Connecticut. This case was then appealed to the Supreme Court, where it was initially argued on December 13, 1971. Justices Powell, Jr. and Rehnquist were appointed to the Court after the first round of trial. At the suggestion of Justice Burger, the case was represented on the 11th of October in 1972 with two new Justices as well as the Assistant Attorney General of Texas, Robert C. Flowers replacing Henry ...