Federal Court to Hear Request to Reopen Roe v. Wade

[stormchazer]

Now the defecation is sure to hit the rotary oscillator....

Federal Court to Hear Request to Reopen Roe v. Wade

Thursday, February 19, 2004



DALLAS — A federal appeals court has agreed to hear a request from the woman formerly known as "Jane Roe" to reconsider the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (search) that legalized abortion.

Norma McCorvey (search), who joined with anti-abortion activists nearly 10 years ago, is seeking to have the decision overturned, citing what she says is more than 30 years of evidence that abortions are psychologically harmful to women.

A federal district judge threw out her initial request in June, saying it was not made within a reasonable time. But the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear McCorvey's arguments March 2.

"It's something that I've wanted ever since Day One, and it's happening," McCorvey said from her Dallas home.

Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill (search), whose predecessor Henry Wade who was named in the original lawsuit, has not filed a response to McCorvey's appeal. That may put the appeals court in the unusual position of hearing arguments from only one side.

Wade was named in the original case because he was charged with enforcing the Texas law that prevented McCorvey from having an abortion. Hill's office has argued that since that law no longer exists, Hill has no authority to prosecute and should not be sued.

More than 20 Texas law school professors concerned about an unbalanced hearing filed a brief Wednesday asking to be allowed to argue the other side of the case.

"It's important that the court hear from somebody representing the position that the district court took, which I think is clearly right," said David Schenck, a lawyer representing the professors. "At this point, the case is moot, and she's presenting at best a political question."

The Supreme Court decision came after McCorvey had her baby. The baby was the third child McCorvey put up for adoption; she was a 21-year-old carnival worker at the time.

She publicly identified herself as Jane Roe in 1980.

Advertise on FOX News Channel, FOXNews.com and FOX News Radio
Jobs at FOX News Channel. Internships at FOX News Channel.
Terms of use. Privacy Statement. For FOXNews.com comments write to
foxnewsonline@foxnews.com; For FOX News Channel comments write to
comments@foxnews.com
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 ComStock, Inc.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright 2004 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
All market data delayed 20 minutes.

[southerngale]

Boy oh boy....what a glorious day it would be if we could ever get Roe vs Wade overturned! Think of all the innocent babies lives we could save!!

[j]

Yes indeed SG.....but, you and I both know that until the pro baby killing Judges sitting on the SC are replaced, this will never move forward.

But....its a start, and a move in the positive direction.

[GalvestonDuck]

Good! I'm all for it!

I would love to see the day when abortions are no longer allowed.

[JCT777]

Well, we can hope this gets overturned anyway.

[Josephine96]

A person has the right to choose. Abortion may not be right, but to have a woman's right taken away would be just wrong too..

If they overturn the Roe/Wade decision.. it'd have tremendous repercussions and backlash

[GalvestonDuck]

A person has the right to choose. Abortion may not be right, but to have a woman's right taken away would be just wrong too..

So does that mean a person has the right to choose to put a gun to someone's head and pull the trigger? We all have free will and the right to choose to do anything. But just because we have the right doesn't make the act right...or legal.

If Roe V. Wade is overturned, women will still have the right to choose. But their choice could soon be an illegal one.

[Josephine96]

No that thing about a gun and pulling the trigger is different lol..

Think of the people who are raped and end up pregnant, or the irresponsible teenagers who are too young to have children.

A woman has the right in my opinion to abort their child as long as it's a good circumstance. If they use it as birth control.. they should be locked up.

[GalvestonDuck]

The ratio of live births to abortions is 4:1. And over 80% of all abortions are performed on unmarried women. Those irresponsible teens who are too young to have children are also too young to be engaging in sexual acts. They need to face the consequences instead of being raised to think they can just fork over a few hundred dollars and have "it removed" (as some pro-choicers phrase it).

At that rate, it ought to be illegal so that, as you yourself said, they can be locked up.

[Lindaloo]

The womans right was stifled the minute she chose to have sex without birth control. Why punish the baby for one night of fun? All Roe VS Wade does is protect the woman from the baby. IMO the baby should be protected because it did not make that choice to be killed.

And your comment about teens is absurd. There are plenty of people in this country who want children but can't have them.

[sunnyday]

It would be wonderful if Roe vs. Wade were overturned! We should pray for that every day.

[GalvestonDuck]

So true, Linda.

And another point -- it takes two to make a baby. What about the consequences the boy should have to face? Do they think it's the easy way out to get the girl to have an abortion? Birth control comes in different forms for both partners to use -- at least one of them could be a bit more responsible.

Here's an interesting stat -- since the rise of AIDS infections in the mid- to late-80's, the numbers of abortions in the US has decreased slightly(but not enough IMO)...possibly due to the increase in use of contraceptives that prevent the tranmission of bodily fluids.

(Side note -- Just as I'm sure Johnathan and I aren't the only two gay members on this forum, I'm sure there may be a handful of female members in the Storm2K family who are being quiet about the fact that they have had an abortion. The last thing I want to do is sound judgmental or critical about your reasons for having one. I'm sure it was a tough, painful decision and I pray that you've found peace and comfort in your lives. I may not agree with it, but here at Storm2K, we have come to learn that we don't always agree with everything anyway. But we still care about each other. )

[Lindaloo]

Well I can say with a straight face that I have never had one. And I think about all these women having abortions that will never get to see that baby's face. And the thinking after is "Life Goes On" for them. And maybe next time they will use birth control or will they?

[Josephine96]

Before you guys slambast me again.. lol Remember this.. The woman does have consequences when she gets an abortion. She lives with it the rest of her life..

[rainstorm]

Boy oh boy....what a glorious day it would be if we could ever get Roe vs Wade overturned! Think of all the innocent babies lives we could save!!

i think this would be a disaster for republicans. i think bush would sit on the fence and further anger his base. the real disaster is if a dem pres gets elected. look at what liberal activist judges are doing with gay marriage

[Stephanie]

The womans right was stifled the minute she chose to have sex without birth control. Why punish the baby for one night of fun? All Roe VS Wade does is protect the woman from the baby. IMO the baby should be protected because it did not make that choice to be killed.

And your comment about teens is absurd. There are plenty of people in this country who want children but can't have them.

I'm sure that the night of rape was fun too.

[j]

I honestly don't think Linda was referencing the rape victim in the test you chose to quote Steph. Geeeezzzzzzz wizzzzzzzzz

[Stephanie]

I honestly don't think Linda was referencing the rape victim in the test you chose to quote Steph. Geeeezzzzzzz wizzzzzzzzz

I doubt it too j, but somehow that point gets lost in these threads everytime. The 'liberal" always is the one to bring it up.

[GalvestonDuck]

Sheesh, I hate to keep throwing statistics out. But only 1% of the abortions performed were a consequence of rape or incest.

http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/abslides/abort_slides.pdf (Page/slide 10)

[Lindaloo]

Steph as a woman I find that statement out of line. Second, if a woman is raped then that is an entirely different situation. Although I have no clue as to what I would do in that situation. I really don't.