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Norma McCorvey

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Norma McCorvey
Born
Norma Lee Nelson

(1947-09-22) September 22, 1947 (age 76)
Simmesport in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Other namesJane Roe
Occupation(s)Director, Crossing Over Ministry
SpouseWoody McCorvey (divorced)
PartnerConnie Gonzales (1970-92)
ChildrenThree daughters, including Melissa
ParentMildred

Norma Leah McCorvey (née Nelson, born September 22, 1947), better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973.[1] The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional. McCorvey's opinions on abortion, however, have since changed, and she is now active in pro-life causes.[2]

Early life

Norma Lee Nelson was born in Simmesport, Louisiana, and raised in Houston, Texas as a Jehovah's Witness. Nelson's father left when she was little;[3] the parents subsequently divorced. Nelson was raised by her mother Mildred, a violent alcoholic; Nelson's father died on September 27, 1995.[4] She gave birth to a daughter, Melissa, at 16. Her mother disowned her after she confided that she was sexually attracted to women, and took custody of the child.[1]

Nelson is of partial Cajun and Cherokee ancestry.[1]

In 1969 McCorvey became pregnant. She returned to Dallas, where friends advised her to assert falsely that she had been raped, because then she could obtain a legal abortion (with the understanding that Texas's anti-abortion laws allowed abortion in the cases of rape and incest). However, this scheme failed, as there was no police report documenting the alleged rape. Later, she admitted this was a fabrication.[5][6] She attempted to obtain an illegal abortion, but the illegal clinic had been closed down by the police. Eventually, she was referred to attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington who pursued the case through the courts.[7]

The Roe v. Wade case took three years of trials to reach the United States Supreme Court. In the meantime, McCorvey had not aborted, but had given birth to the baby in question.

McCorvey revealed herself to be "Jane Roe" of the decision within days of its issuance and stated that she sought an abortion because she was unemployable and greatly depressed.[8]. However, in the 1980s, McCorvey asserted that she had been the "pawn" of two young and ambitious lawyers (Weddington and Coffee) who were looking for a plaintiff with whom they could challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion.[9]

In 1994, McCorvey converted to Christianity and expressed remorse for her part in the Supreme Court decision and has worked as part of the pro-life movement, such as Operation Rescue.

Personal life

At 16, Nelson married Woody McCorvey, who she said was abusive towards her; she left him during her pregnancy with his child. She had that child, her first, Melissa (born 1965). She left him and returned to live with her mother. At 19, she had a child by another man; which she placed for adoption. She had her third child, the one at the center of Roe v. Wade case, at 21 by another man.[1]

In her 1994 autobiography, I Am Roe (her first book), McCorvey wrote of her sexuality. For many years she had lived quietly in Dallas, Texas with her long-time partner, Connie Gonzales. "We're not like other lesbians, going to bars," she said in a New York Times interview. "We're lesbians together. We're homers."[1]

Conversion and Becoming Pro-Life

At a signing of I Am Roe, in 1994, Corvey was befriended by evangelical minister Flip Benham.[10] She was baptized on August 8, 1995, by Benham in a Dallas, Texas, backyard swimming pool, an event that was filmed for national television. Two days later she announced that she had become an advocate of Operation Rescue's campaign to make abortion illegal.

In her book, Won by Love, McCorvey wrote about her change of stance on abortion:

I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. 'Norma,' I said to myself, 'They're right.' I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth--that's a baby!
I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception.' It wasn't about 'missed periods.' It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit, I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion — at any point — was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear.[2]

In 1998, McCorvey released a statement that affirmed her entrance into the Roman Catholic Church, and she has been confirmed into the church as a full member.[11] She has also stated that she is no longer a lesbian.[12] On August 17, 1998, she was received into the Catholic Church by Father Frank Pavone, the International Director of Priests for Life and Father Edward Robinson in Dallas.

Later life

In 2005, in McCorvey v. Hill, McCorvey petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 decision, arguing that the case should be heard again in light of evidence that the procedure harms women,[13] but that petition was denied.

On January 22, 2008, McCorvey endorsed Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. McCorvey stated, "I support Ron Paul for president because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe v. Wade. He has never wavered on the issue of being pro-life and has a voting record to prove it. He understands the importance of civil liberties for all, including the unborn."[14]

McCorvey is still active in pro-life demonstrations [15][16] including that before President Barack Obama's commencement address to the graduates of the University of Notre Dame. The decision to have Obama speak at the school on May 17, 2009 was met with some controversy because his opinions on abortion differ from those of the Catholic Church. She was arrested during the first day of hearings for the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor after she and another protester started yelling during the opening statement of Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.).[17]

TV movie

Books

  • I Am Roe (1994) ISBN 0-06-017010-7 ISBN 0-06-092638-4
  • Won by Love (1998) ISBN 0-7852-7237-2 ISBN 0-7567-7332-6

See also

Blood Money (documentary)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Norma McCorvey; Of Roe, Dreams And Choices" By Alex Witchel in The New York Times (July 28, 1994)
  2. ^ a b Roe v. McCorvey
  3. ^ 'These steps are covered with blood'
  4. ^ "Jane Roe" tells the truth about Roe v Wade
  5. ^ McCorvey, Norma. Won by Love (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), p. 241.
  6. ^ McCorvey, Norma. Testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights (1998-01-21), quoted in the parliament of Western Australia (PDF) (1998-05-20).
  7. ^ "[1]" McCorvey, Norma and Meisler, Andy. I Am Roe: My Life, Roe V. Wade, and Freedom of Choice (Harpercollins, May, 1994) (Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.) Retrieved (2009-08-20).
  8. ^ http://ravingatheist.com/2009/01/trivia-question-answer
  9. ^ CNN.com - Who is 'Jane Roe'?, Jun. 18, 2003
  10. ^ Miss Norma & Her Baby: Two Victims Who Got Away
  11. ^ Priests for Life: Norma McCorvey's Ministry and Website
  12. ^ Duin, Julia (January 21, 1996), "Jane Roe's 'turn to God' complete", The Washington Times
  13. ^ Court rejects challenge to abortion ruling
  14. ^ 'Jane Roe' endorses Paul - msnbc.com
  15. ^ "Obama calls for 'common ground' on abortion at Notre Dame", CNN, May 18, 2009
  16. ^ "19 arrested at ND", WSJV
  17. ^ "'Jane Roe' Arrested at Supreme Court Hearing", Washington Post, July 13, 2009

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