{"id":259893,"date":"2021-12-28T06:42:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T12:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=259893"},"modified":"2021-12-27T21:56:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T03:56:15","slug":"sarah-weddington-abortion-attorney-roe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sarah-weddington-abortion-attorney-roe\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Weddington, the pro-abortion attorney who argued Roe v. Wade, has died"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sarah Weddington, the pro-abortion attorney who argued the landmark Roe v. Wade<\/em> case that led to the legalization of abortion in the United States in 1973 and the deaths of more than 60 million preborn babies, has died at the age of 76. Weddington was only 27 years old when she argued that abortion should be legal in what would become one of the most devastating cases to human life in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

“Sarah Weddington died this morning after a series of health issues,” Susan Hays, a Democratic attorney running for Texas agriculture commissioner and a former student of Weddington’s, wrote on Twitter<\/a> on Sunday, December 26. “With Linda Coffee she filed the first case of her legal career, Roe v. Wade, fresh out of law school. She was my professor at UT, the best writing instructor I ever had, and a great mentor.”<\/p>\n

Weddington herself had an illegal abortion<\/a> in Mexico in 1967 during her third year of law school, according to her book. When Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) became pregnant with her third child in 1969, abortion was still illegal in many U.S. states, including Texas. McCorvey, falsely claiming that she was raped, was referred to attorneys Weddington and Coffee.<\/p>\n

“Well, I went to this attorney… He said that he just knew of these two young law students… Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee and that they were trying to challenge the Texas statute on abortion… and, would I like to meet these two women. Sure,” explained<\/a> McCorvey. She agreed<\/a> to be the plaintiff in the case that would topple abortion law in Texas and the nation, but was kept out of the loop with virtually no involvement in the actual case — and with Weddington and Coffee completely aware that McCorvey would never be able to have an abortion due to the length of time the case would take. McCorvey gave birth to a daughter who was placed for adoption.<\/p>\n

“If Weddington really wanted to get Norma an abortion, she could have, as she was heavily involved in an abortion referral network in Texas,” explained<\/a> Live Action president and founder Lila Rose. “Weddington had the resources. But she never mentioned this to Norma, because apparently that would mean losing the only plaintiff that she had with the necessary legal standing to challenge the law. How ironic, that Weddington championed abortion access for all women by secretly withholding an abortion from her client.”<\/p>\n