Sarah Weddington (1945-2021) argued Roe V. Wade in front of the Supreme Court. Her dedication to reproductive justice led to one of the most influential court decisions in American history.
Sarah Weddington (1945-2021) argued Roe V. Wade in front of the Supreme Court. Her dedication to reproductive justice led to one of the most influential court decisions in American history.
This month, we’re highlighting Women of Resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, reproductive control, or any number of other ills, these women created paths for change.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at pod@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month on Womanica, we’re highlighting women who led extraordinary lives of resistance.
Today, we’re talking about the woman who argued Roe V. Wade in front of the Supreme Court. Her dedication to reproductive justice led to one of the most influential court decisions in American history.
Sarah Weddington was born Sarah Catherine Ragle on February 5, 1945. Her father was a Methodist minister. Sarah received her college degree at 19 from what is now McMurry University,a Methodist college in her hometown.
After graduating, she worked as an eighth grade teacher for a short time but didn’t find the work fulfilling. So she enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin to study law.
Sarah later said this decision was partly inspired by a dean at her college, who had told her, “No woman from this college has ever gone to law school. It would be too tough.” Sarah wanted to do it anyway.
During her law school years, she dated another law student — Ron Weddington. — and became pregnant. Sarah and Ron drove to Mexico together so she could get an abortion — she couldn’t get one in her home state of Texas.
She didn’t speak publicly about this experience until many years later, when she published her 1992 memoir, “A Question of Choice.” In the book, she remembers the fear right before her procedure. Her final thoughts before the anesthesia hit were, in her words, “I hope I don’t die, and I pray that no one ever finds out about this.”
Sarah was able to keep her procedure a secret and finished law school in 1967— one of the five women in her graduating class of 1,600. The next year, she married Ron. They stayed together for six years before divorcing.
Even though Sarah had been a top law student, she struggled to find a steady position at a law firm. Most of her early legal work was uncomplicated and unglamorous — in her words: “uncontested divorces, wills for people with no money, and an adoption for my uncle.” This all changed when she filed her first ever legal case — Roe V. Wade.
In Texas, abortion was illegal unless the mother’s life was at risk. But the law itself was ambiguous and hard to fully understand. Some friends asked Sarah for legal advice — could they get in trouble for referring women to doctors who performed illegal abortions? Sarah did some research and realized that a legal challenge to the Texas abortion ban might be successful.
She got in contact with a friend from law school — Linda Coffee — who had more legal experience. The two women agreed to challenge the Texas abortion ban — they just needed a plaintiff.
They found one in Norma McCorvey, a pregnant waitress living in Dallas. Norma had already gone through two pregnancies and didn’t want a third. She met with Sarah and Linda at a pizza parlor and agreed to become the anonymous plaintiff in their case. When the two lawyers filed the case, they called Norma “Jane Roe.” The defendant was Henry Wade, the district attorney for Dallas County.
Sarah and Linda won their initial case in the Federal District Court in Texas. But the decision was appealed. So in 1971, they went before the Supreme Court to try to overturn the abortion ban for good. Despite the fact that Sarah was only 26 at the time and this was her first major case, the team agreed to have Sarah provide the oral arguments.
Sarah later recalled the intense nerves she felt as she faced the court in her suit and pearls. She said, “I was scared and felt the weight of needing to win for women. I felt reverence for the Supreme Court and what it represented.”
That term, there were only seven justices on the bench — two had retired and hadn’t been replaced. After hearing Sarah and Linda’s case, the justices felt the issue of abortion access was too important not to be decided by a full bench.
So Sarah argued their case again the following year, in October of 1972. This time in front of nine Supreme Court justices. All of whom were men.
In January of 1973, the final decision was handed down. The court voted 7 to 2 to overturn Texas’s strict abortion law, calling it a violation of the constitutional right to privacy. That decision set a legal precedent that protected the right to an abortion for almost 50 years.
In the years post-Roe, Sarah was elected for three terms in the Texas House of Representatives. She helped pass several bills that championed women’s rights, including one that provided better legal protections for victims of sexual assault.
Sarah went on to serve as the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and worked as an assistant to President Jimmy Carter.
She later taught and went on the lecture circuit, telling her Roe V. Wade story to people across the country.
Over the course of her life, the debate around abortion access only intensified. In 2003, she wrote for Texas Monthly “I thought, over a period of time, that the right of a woman to make a decision about what she would do in a particular pregnancy would be accepted...I was wrong.”
Sarah died on December 26, 2021 at her home in Austin. She was 76 years old. Six months later, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to overturn Roe V. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion.
Though the case Sarah won over 50 years ago is no longer the law of the land, the cultural impact of her contributions to the fight for reproductive justice remains as strong as ever.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the long battle for reproductive rights and how to be a part of the movement today, I recommend you listen to another WMN show, Ordinary Equality. To hear more about Sarah, the trial, and what became of Norma McCorvey, the sixth episode of Ordinary Equality season 2 covers that in depth.
All month we’re highlighting women who led lives of resistance. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!