HISTORY IN THE MAKING “ROE” FILES MOTION TO RE-OPEN ROE V. WADE, THE LANDMARK CASE LEGALIZING
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Autor: ----
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Fuente: The Justice Foundation
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ABORTION
DALLAS,
June
17,
2003
—
Norma
McCorvey,
the
former
“Roe”
of
Roe
v.
Wade,
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
case
that
legalized
abortion,
is
filing
an
historic
motion
today
to
re-open
her
case
and
request
that
it
be
overturned.
The
filing
is
based
on
changes
in
law
and
factual
conditions
since
the
high
court
handed
down
its
decision
30
years
ago.
As
a
party
to
the
original
litigation,
Norma
McCorvey
may
petition
the
court
to
re-open
the
original
case
based
on
changes
in
factual
conditions
and/or
changes
in
law
that
make
the
prior
decision
“no
longer
just,”
said
Allan
E.
Parker,
Jr.,
lead
attorney
for
the
Texas-based
Justice
Foundation.
The
motion
will
be
filed
and
a
news
conference
held
at
10
a.m.
Tuesday
at
the
Ferris
Plaza
Park
on
the
corner
of
Houston
and
Record
Streets
–
just
blocks
away
from
the
Earl
Cabell
Federal
Building,
where
the
motion
will
be
filed.
The
motion
attacks
the
judgment
that
was
first
entered
exactly
33
years
ago
today
by
the
Dallas
Federal
Court.
McCorvey
is
asking
that
the
judgment
in
the
original
Roe
case
be
set
aside.
“I
long
for
the
day
that
justice
will
be
done
and
the
burden
from
all
of
these
deaths
will
be
removed
from
my
shoulders,”
McCorvey
said.
“I
want
to
do
everything
in
my
power
to
help
women
and
their
children.
The
issue
is
justice
for
women,
justice
for
the
unborn,
and
justice
for
what
is
right.”
The
U.S.
Supreme
Court
has
overturned
its
own
precedents
using
Rule
60(b)(5)
of
the
Federal
Rules
of
Civil
Procedure
(Rule
60),
most
recently
in
the
1997
decision
of
Agostini
v.
Felton.
In
that
case,
the
high
court
used
a
post-judgment
motion
by
a
party
to
overturn
two
of
its
own
12-year-old
precedents.
Parker
said
the
legal
question
in
the
case
is,
“Is
it
just
to
continue
giving
Roe
v.
Wade
future
application?”
-more-
Roe
v.
Wade
Release/Page
2
Using
Rule
60,
there
are
three
major
arguments
to
re-open
and
overturn
the
case
on
the
basis
of
changed
facts
and
law:
1.
Norma
McCorvey,
and
more
than
1,000
women
who
have
actually
had
abortions,
have
signed
affidavits
that
attest
to
the
devastating
emotional,
physical,
and
psychological
trauma
of
abortion.
These
affidavits
are
the
largest
body
of
sworn
evidence
in
the
world
on
the
negative
effects
of
abortion
on
women.
It
is
more
than
a
thousand
times
more
evidence
from
women
than
the
Court
heard
in
Roe.
2.
The
unanswered
question
in
Roe’s
former
case,
“when
does
human
life
begin?”
was
treated
by
the
Court
as
a
philosophical
question
when
the
case
was
first
heard
in
1973.
Since
then,
an
explosion
of
scientific
evidence
on
human
life
conclusively
answers
the
question
that
life
begins
at
conception.
3.
The
state
of
Texas
in
1999
enacted
a
law
in
which
it
agreed
to
provide
for
any
woman’s
unwanted
child
from
the
child’s
birth
to
18
years
of
age
with
no
questions
asked.
Legally,
because
the
state
has
agreed
to
take
responsibility
for
all
unwanted
children,
women
should
no
longer
be
forced
to
dispose
of
“unwanted”
children
by
ending
a
human
life.
Forty
states
have
similar
Baby
Moses
laws.
“The
result
of
granting
the
motion
would
be
to
set
aside
and
annul
Roe
v.
Wade
and
Doe
v.
Bolton,
its
companion
case.
This
would
return
the
issue
of
protecting
women
and
children
to
the
people
with
Baby
Moses
laws
serving
as
a
safety
net”,
Mr.
Parker
said.
Norma
McCorvey
will
be
joined
at
the
press
conference
by
her
lead
attorney,
Mr.
Parker,
by
co-counsel
Harold
Cassidy
of
New
Jersey,
and
by
post-abortive
women,
who
will
provide
testimony
about
how
abortion
has
harmed
them.
These
women,
many
of
whom
are
witnesses
in
the
Rule
60
Motion,
want
others
to
know
how
abortion
has
negatively
impacted
women’s
lives,
including
their
physical
and
emotional
health.
The
San
Antonio,
Texas-based
Justice
Foundation
will
represent
Norma
McCorvey
in
the
case.
To
view
the
press
kit,
legal
documents,
scientific
research
and
some
of
the
more
than
1,000
affidavits,
please
visit
www.operationoutcry.org.
The
Justice
Foundation
is
a
San
Antonio-based
501(c)3
organization,
which
provides
free
legal
representation
in
landmark
cases
to
protect
individual
rights
and
to
limit
government
to
its
appropriate
role.
###
Editors
Note:
For
interviews
with
Norma
McCorvey
or
Allan
Parker,
and
post-abortive
women,
please
contact
Giles
Hudson
at
A.
Larry
Ross
Communication
at
972-267-1111
x223
or
469-774-6377.
Legal
Evidence
Entered
Into
Court
The
following
are
excerpts
from
the
more
than
1,000
women
who
have
filed
sworn
affidavits
as
part
of
this
Rule
60
court
challenge.
A
copy
of
the
entire
record
is
available
in
Dallas
federal
court.
(Cities
and
dates
are
for
abortion,
not
current
residence).
o
“If
I
imagine
what
hell
is
then
I
say
that
is
how
my
life
was
before
I
found
counseling
and
healing.
I
became
an
alcoholic,
lost
my
will
to
live,
hated
life
in
general.”
Lisa.
Eugene,
OR,
June
1976,
1980
and
1980.
o
“It
has
affected
me
emotionally.
I
was
unable
to
bond
with
anyone.
I
have
suffered
depression.
It
caused
years
of
self-destructive
behavior.”
Paula.
Cleveland,
OH,
July
1978.
o
“Inability
to
form
deep
relationships,
guilt,
anxiety
attacks.
For
a
long
time
inability
to
hold
or
be
near
babies.”
Shirley.
Los
Angeles,
CA,
1982;
and,
Norway,
1970.
o
“I
have
had
many
medical
problems
that
I
attribute
to
having
the
abortion
including
pre-term
pregnancies,
abnormal
paps,
and
abnormal
periods.”
Susan.
Fort
Worth,
TX,
March,
1977.
o
“Had
a
replacement
child
in
1979,
who
recently
had
her
own
abortion
(06/15/01),
also
affected
my
self-esteem
and
eventually
became
promiscuous.”
Kathleen.
Port
Chester,
NY,
May
12,
1975;
and,
Mamaroneck,
NY,
December
3,
1975.
o
“Emotionally
I
feel
rejected
by
all.
I
feel
alone.”
Grace.
Jacksonville,
NC,
1976.
o
“Years
of
mood
swings,
eating
disorders,
promiscuity,
low
self-esteem
and
relationship
with
my
other
children.”
Reatha.
Baltimore,
MD,
November
1979.
o
“I
spent
years
going
from
relationship
to
relationship
and
I
became
more
sexually
active.
Alienated
from
family,
problems
in
school,
old
friends
became
distant.”
Maureen.
Bridgeport,
PA,
January,
1978,
March,
1979;
and,
Philadelphia,
PA,
March,
1979.
o
“Daily
sorry
and
regret
over
death
of
my
children
caused
by
my
own
actions.”
Beverly.
Atlanta,
GA,
1974
and
1977.
o
“Severe
depression,
especially
in
January,
knowing
my
child
would
be
another
year
older.”
Wendy.
Howell,
NJ,
1985.
o
“I
have
panic
disorder,
low
self
esteem
which
led
to
promiscuity.
I
drank
and
got
involved
with
snorting
cocaine.
I
got
HPV,
which
damaged
my
cervix
–
had
surgery
to
remove
pre-cancerous
cells.
I
have
colon
problems
and
at
risk
for
breast
cancer.”
Christina
Grace.
Newark,
DE,
1986;
and,
Dover,
NE,
1988.
Legal
Evidence/Page
2
o
“Ten
years
after
the
abortion
I
almost
had
a
nervous
breakdown.
Have
suffered
emotionally
for
twenty-five
years.”
D.E.,
Atlanta,
GA,
August
1975.
o
“I
felt
empty
inside
for
quite
some
time.
I
also
began
the
spiral
of
compulsive
eating
which
has
led
to
extreme
obesity.”
A.D.C.H.,
San
Antonio,
TX,
February
22,
1984.
o
“I
went
from
being
on
the
Dean’s
List
in
college
to
getting
F’s,
incompletes,
and
withdraws.
I
attempted
suicide.
I
was
depressed.
The
guilt
was
overwhelming.”
H.A.K.
Knoxville,
TN,
May
12,
1984.
o
“I
have
been
suicidal,
depressed,
had
extreme
anxiety,
had
nightmares,
suffered
from
grief
and
self
destructive
behaviors.”
Candice.
San
Diego
County,
California,
March,
1996.
o
“Guilt
–
lack
of
ability
to
deal
adequately
with
true
love
and
sex
in
marriage.”
L.D.M.
England,
September
1970.
o
“Depression,
nightmares,
divorce.”
Darla.
Memphis,
TN,
April
1986.
o
“My
abortion
took
away
my
sense
of
self-worth
and
self
confidence.
It
has
made
me
question
my
ability
to
make
competent
decisions.”
A.C.N.
New
Orleans,
LA,
1981.
o
“It
is
my
biggest
regret.
It
has
caused
depression
and
thoughts
of
suicide.
Also,
complications
in
becoming
pregnant
and
carrying
a
child.”
Kathryn.
Kansas
City,
MO,
1981,
1982,
and
1983.
o
“It
has
left
an
emptiness
and
pain
that
never
goes
away.”
Dianne.
New
Jersey,
January
15,
1979.
o
“I’m
always
thinking
about
my
unborn
child.”
Niria.
Houston,
TX,
1995
and
1999.
o
“I
have
been
in
therapy
for
rages
of
anger.
I
was
also
treated
for
an
eating
disorder
that
has
affected
me
physically
as
well.”
Rexene.
Montgomery,
AL
1991.
o
“Emotional
pain
and
torment
for
years
until
God
forgave
and
healed
me.
It
has
affected
me
physically
as
well.
I
cannot
have
children.”
Dorothy.
San
Antonio,
Texas,
February
1975.
Legal
Evidence/Page
3
o
“If
abortion
was
illegal,
I
would
have
never
had
to
go
through
all
of
the
pain
and
the
guilt.
I
(might)
have
graduated
from
college
instead
of
dropping
out.
The
pain
and
guilt
of
abortion
caused
me
to
attempt
suicide…maybe
the
only
reason
I
survived
was
so
that
I
could
make
a
difference
by
telling
my
horrifying
story.”
H.A.K.
Knoxville,
TN,
May
12,
1984.
o
“Abortion
kills.
Not
only
the
child,
but
the
human
spirit.
The
mother
and
father
are
victims
as
well.
I
tried
to
take
my
own
life
because
of
the
guilt
and
remorse.
I
felt
I
was
a
walking
tomb.”
Sheila
Lynn.
Tallahassee,
FL,
June
7,
1985.
o
“Listen
to
those
voices
of
those
who
have
experienced
the
physical
and
emotional
consequences.
A
whole
segment
of
society
–
men
and
women
–
are
suffering
because
they
did
what
was
wrong
even
though
it
was
legal.”
Shirley.
Los
Angeles,
CA,
1982;
and,
Norway,
1970.
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