Jane Roe

This is one of several op-eds dealing with the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. BECAUSE OF what it represents - freedom of choice - Roe vs. Wade has sparked 30 years of controversy. To this day, it remains one of the most contentious court decisions in American history. Five years ago, 25 years after the ruling, I came face-to-face with the courage of Jane Roe. Like most little girls, I spent my childhood playing with dolls, often pretending I was their mother. And I imagined one day that role would become reality.

Norma McCorvey has led a troubled life. At 21, pregnant for the third time, she decided she simply couldn't have another child; she wanted an abortion. It was a decision that changed the course of American history. McCorvey, known in court documents as "Jane Roe," never got the abortion she sought so desperately. She gave birth to a child she gave up for adoption. She also gave birth to one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions in history. McCorvey is the "Roe" of the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that made first-trimester abortions legal.

The woman whose demand for an abortion led to the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision has been baptized by the leader of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue and said yesterday she would help "save babies. " Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe in the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, says she is no longer a supporter of abortion rights. She told radio station WBAP that she planned to help women "save their babies" and "won't be doing pro-choice stuff.

I recently read the full story about "Jane Roe" and Roe vs. Wade. Abortion has been one of the most volatile and hotly debated issues in our country for the last few decades. I think that the recent developments in the life of Jane Roe complements perfectly the absurdity that has surrounded abortion for all these years. Abortion has always been a sort of "polar" issue: Catholics vs. non- Catholics, Republicans vs. Democrats, men vs. women, "good" vs. "bad. " Now, we see Jane Roe vs. Jane Roe?

Norma McCorvey, known better as Jane Roe in the Supreme Court decision on abortion, has grabbed another 15 minutes of fame. Once the poster child for those who favor legalized abortion, she's now declared herself pro-life and signed up with the activist Operation Rescue. But before she's turned into a symbol once again, let's examine what Ms. McCorvey said. Her change of heart came when, as marketing director for a Dallas abortion clinic, she became increasingly dissatisfied with the way abortion was pushed, especially to young clients.

The answering machine in her Dallas home now offers the world only the plainest of telephone messages. "There will be no press statement," it says, "there will be no more public appearances from me. I am going to be regular person Norma McCorvey. " Last week, the 47-year-old, who once described herself as "a poor, half- crazy, half-ordinary woman who had been picked by fate to become a symbol of something much bigger and finer than herself," went through one of the most public of conversions.

The conversion of "Jane Roe" from abortion-rights poster girl to darling of the religious right is a dramatic development but has nothing to do with the pros and cons of abortion. Now that Norma McCorvey has seen the light, the born-again ex-symbol of the planned parenthood movement will be trotted out to "prove" Operation Rescue's case that abortion is an abomination that government must stamp out. But the issue never was this one woman whose unwanted pregnancy a quarter- century ago led to the landmark Roe vs. Wade case in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared anti-abortion laws unconstitutional.

The woman whose demand for an abortion led to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision has been baptized by the leader of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue and said yesterday that she would help "save babies. " Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe in the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, said she no longer supported abortion rights. She told radio station WBAP that she planned to help women "save their babies" and "won't be doing pro-choice stuff. " "I'm pro-life," said McCorvey, who is in her 40s. "I think I've always been pro-life, I just didn't know it. " She also told ABC-TV in an interview airing last night that "I think abortion is wrong.

This date last year marked my debut as a protester. That's when I joined more than 200,000 peaceful protesters in opposing legalized abortion at the March for Life in Washington, on the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I wasn't always a radical. For ages, my point of view about abortion was ambivalent. During freewheeling single days, most of my 20-year-marriage, and my time as a mid-life college student, I straddled the fence: I'd never personally choose abortion, but I wouldn't presume to speak for everywoman.

She won't even have to change her parking place. When Norma McCorvey - better known to a generation of Americans as Jane Roe - announced she was leaving the abortion-rights fold last week to volunteer for Operation Rescue, her physical journey wasn't far. The national offices for Operation Rescue, a leading antiabortion activist group, are next door to the abortion clinic where McCorvey worked for the last year, in a U-shaped, two-story brick...

IWAS A little boy when the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and a college graduate when the highest court ruled in Roe v. Wade (1973). Each case redefined America in a different way, both a result of hard-fought social progress. Brown sealed the rights of African-Americans well beyond its constitutional prohibition against separate but equal; Roe held that the 14th Amendment, as a matter of privacy, protected a woman's right to an abortion. Although abortion was then prohibited by Texas law, except to save the woman's life, Jane Roe (the legal alias used to protect the identity of Norma McCorvey, an unmarried Texax)

JOHNNIE COCHRAN, the all-star attorney who defended high-profile clients such as O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, and Snoop Dogg, died Tuesday of a brain tumor. Just last Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Tory v. Cochran, a case in which the famous lawyer was the respondent. Will the court go ahead and make a ruling now that he's dead? Maybe. For a criminal case, there would be no ambiguity-the death of a criminal defendant makes a case moot. But Tory vs. Cochran is a civil case concerning freedom of speech, and the way in which it was decided by lower courts makes it quite peculiar.

This date last year marked my debut as a protester. That's when I joined more than 200,000 peaceful protesters in opposing legalized abortion at the March for Life in Washington, on the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I wasn't always a radical. For ages, my point of view about abortion was ambivalent. During freewheeling single days, most of my 20-year-marriage, and my time as a mid-life college student, I straddled the fence: I'd never personally choose abortion, but I wouldn't presume to speak for everywoman.

This is one of several op-eds dealing with the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. BECAUSE OF what it represents - freedom of choice - Roe vs. Wade has sparked 30 years of controversy. To this day, it remains one of the most contentious court decisions in American history. Five years ago, 25 years after the ruling, I came face-to-face with the courage of Jane Roe. Like most little girls, I spent my childhood playing with dolls, often pretending I was their mother. And I imagined one day that role would become reality.

Roe vs. Wade was the case of a pregnant, unmarried woman in Texas who wanted an abortion. "Jane Roe" was a pseudonym used to protect her privacy; her real name was Norma McCorvey. The defendant, Henry Wade, was Dallas' district attorney. He was charged with enforcing Texas law, which banned abortion except to save the life of the mother. McCorvey did not have the abortion. Instead, she gave the baby girl up for adoption. On Jan. 22, 1973, the court ruled 7-to-2 that: A fetus is not a "person" with rights under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

I recently read the full story about "Jane Roe" and Roe vs. Wade. Abortion has been one of the most volatile and hotly debated issues in our country for the last few decades. I think that the recent developments in the life of Jane Roe complements perfectly the absurdity that has surrounded abortion for all these years. Abortion has always been a sort of "polar" issue: Catholics vs. non- Catholics, Republicans vs. Democrats, men vs. women, "good" vs. "bad. " Now, we see Jane Roe vs. Jane Roe?

Norma McCorvey has led a troubled life. At 21, pregnant for the third time, she decided she simply couldn't have another child; she wanted an abortion. It was a decision that changed the course of American history. McCorvey, known in court documents as "Jane Roe," never got the abortion she sought so desperately. She gave birth to a child she gave up for adoption. She also gave birth to one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions in history. McCorvey is the "Roe" of the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that made first-trimester abortions legal.

The answering machine in her Dallas home now offers the world only the plainest of telephone messages. "There will be no press statement," it says, "there will be no more public appearances from me. I am going to be regular person Norma McCorvey. " Last week, the 47-year-old, who once described herself as "a poor, half- crazy, half-ordinary woman who had been picked by fate to become a symbol of something much bigger and finer than herself," went through one of the most public of conversions.

COUNCIL VOTE ON 'DOUBLE-DIP' FAR FROM UNANIMOUS I am writing in response to your Aug. 9 editorial titled, "Misplaced generosity: Why make the city lavish pay on injured workers," wherein you chastise City Council members for refusing to approve a bill that would have eliminated the "double-dip" for injured firefighters. I fully understand and respect your role as watchdog and critic of all government bodies, including Philadelphia City Council. Furthermore, I definitely agree that the bill should have passed.

Norma "Jane Roe" McCorvey, the used and abused central figure in the monumental Roe vs. Wade abortion case 22 years ago, is a new creation. Not only does she testify to being spiritually reborn, she also says she no longer believes in abortion on demand. True, she would still allow abortion in the first trimester in cases involving severe "fetal abnormalities," but she has made a quantum leap in a direction opposite the one she has staunchly held since before the 1973 Supreme Court ruling.