Who is Jane Roe?

Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to read a lot (but probably not enough) about the U.S. Supreme court's landmark decision regarding the issue of abortion. By voting in favor of Jane Roe versus the defendant Henry Wade, the Court extended the due process clause of the 14th amendment to give women right to have privacy while considering abortion. The defendant Henry Wade was the Dallas county district attorney at the time. Jane Roe was the pseudonym used to protect the identity of the plaintiff in this case. While writing my last post, Heal me Lord with your Word, I got curious about the identity of Jane Roe, and did some digging since. I must admit that the description of Jane Roe leading up to the Supreme Court's decision might seem harsh, even judgmental. But her story in its entirety must be told in order for us to understand  the God of Joseph, a God who could take any evil and turn it into good for the salvation of many. 

Norma Leah McCorvey, aka Jane Roe, was born in Simmesport, Louisiana, and raised in Houston, Texas as a Jehovah's Witness. McCorvey's father left the family when she was 13 years old and her parents subsequently divorced. She and her older brother were raised by their mother Mildred, a violent alcoholic. 

McCorvey dropped out of high school at the age of 14. Two years later, she married Woody McCorvey, but left him after he abused her. She moved in with her mother and gave birth to her first child, Cheryl. The following year, McCorvey again became pregnant and gave birth to a baby that was placed for adoption. She then returned to live with her mother, but when Norma intimated that she was sexually attracted to women, her mother disowned her and took custody of Norma's daughter, Cheryl. 

In 1969, at the age of 21, while working low-paying jobs and living with her father, McCorvey became pregnant a third time. She returned to Dallas, where friends advised her to assert falsely that she had been raped, as she would then be eligible to obtain a legal abortion (with the understanding that Texas's pro-life laws allowed abortion in the cases of rape and incest). Due to lack of police evidence or documentation, the scheme was not successful and McCorvey would later admit the situation was a fabrication. She attempted to obtain an illegal abortion, but the respective clinics had been closed down by authorities.

Eventually, McCorvey was referred to attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington. The case took three years of trials to reach the United States Supreme Court. In the meantime, McCorvey had given birth to the baby in question, who was eventually adopted.

McCorvey revealed herself to the press as being "Jane Roe" of the decision within days of its issuance and stated that she sought an abortion because she was unemployable and greatly depressed. 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.

In her first book, the 1994 autobiography, I Am Roe, McCorvey wrote of her sexual orientation. For many years, she had lived quietly in Dallas with her long-time partner, Connie Gonzales. "We're not like other lesbians, going to bars," she explained in a New York Times interview. "We're lesbians together. We're homers." That same year, she converted to Christianity and expressed remorse for her part in the Supreme Court decision. McCorvey has worked as part of the pro-life movement, such asOperation Rescue.

McCorvey's second book, Won by Love, was published in 1998. She explained her change on the stance of abortion with the following comments:

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.

Shortly thereafter, McCorvey released a statement that affirmed her entrance into the Roman Catholic Church. She also stated that she is no longer a lesbian. 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.

There are many who wonder why God would allow such a great evil like abortion to go on in this world. Sacrifices endured by these unborn are beyond human comprehension. There are many desperate people, who are torn apart by humanity's cruelty toward the weakest of its own kind, resort into violent acts such as bombing abortion clinics and target practicing on abortion providers. 

Those who harbor ill-will towards providers and participants of abortion must understand that their actions equate to that of their opponents in the eyes of God. There is no room for violence, judging and intolerance in God's plan. We call our God the Good Shepherd, not because He takes good care of 99 out of 100, but because He would leave 99 to go look for the one who is lost. He is a loving God who gave up His life to redeem the lives of many; He is a loving God who would allow many innocents to die and join Him in heaven in order to save a lost soul on earth. Devil thought he had won when Christ died on a cross and many had thought that devil had won when the Court decriminalized abortion in the US. We proclaim victory to the evil when we fail to discern the plan of God and accept the will of God. 

That said, we have the power to stop abortion. We can stop abortion through prayer - by praying to God to give us strength to withstand temptation and obey His commandments. Pray to God to enlighten us with the wisdom to love our neighbors as ourselves. Pray for the unborn whose great sacrifices have healed and restored the hardened hearts of many. 

(Credit is due to Wiki for much of the information regarding Norma McCorvey)