Source+3

//Roe v. Wade//. (1973, January 22). Retrieved August 13, 2012, from University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School website: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/roe.html.


 * 1) Roe v. Wade was decided on January 22, 1973.
 * 2) In this case, Jane Roe challenged the Texas anti-abortion laws.
 * 3) Roe first issued this claim in 1970, when she was unmarried and pregnant and wished to end her pregnancy.
 * 4) She could not obtain a safe, legal abortion in Texas, her state of residency, because of the laws that were in place.
 * 5) According to Roe's claim, the state-level anti-abortion laws were unconstitutional.
 * 6) The Texas law stated that it was illegal to “procure an abortion” unless “an abortion procured or attempted by medical advice for the purpose of saving the life of the mother.
 * 7) A licensed physician by the name of James Hubert Hallford agreed with Roe in the respect of the unconstitutionality of the Texas anti-abortion laws, an opinion of which was based upon experience with patients.
 * 8) Hallford claimed the laws were in violation of Americans' right to privacy, and that the law was unconstitutionally vague
 * 9) A couple, John and Mary Doe, also thought the law was unfair, as Mary had been told by a physician to avoid pregnancy due to a medical condition of hers, and to also stop taking birth control pills as well; both of which were for the sake of her health.
 * 10) The Does believed that it was Mary's right to obtain an abortion depending on the circumstances, which pertained to her well-being.
 * 11) Roe claimed the law was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, as well as the rights preserved by the Ninth Amendment.
 * 12) The anti-abortion laws held in place in the United States before Roe v. Wade were not based on ancient laws, but merely laws made in the late nineteenth century.
 * 13) The U.S. anti-abortion laws were first created due to three things: to prevent illicit sex, to protect the mother's life, and to protect prenatal life.
 * 14) The common law is that before the “quickening” of the fetus – which is distinguished by the first kick – the occurrence of an abortion is not an incriminating offense.
 * 15) At the time of Roe v. Wade, only the District of Columbia and Alabama allowed abortion, in order to preserve the mother's health.