Encore: Supreme Court Landmarks | Jane Roe | 7
American History Tellers
Wondery
4.7 • 18.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 August 2023
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1970, a 22-year-old woman in Texas named Norma McCorvey tried and failed to get an abortion from her doctor. Abortion was illegal in Texas, just as it was in most states. Women hoping to terminate their pregnancies had few options, and many resorted to risky back-alley procedures.
McCorvey was soon introduced to a pair of young lawyers who hoped to go to court to challenge the Texas law banning abortion. Before long, McCorvey became the plaintiff known only as “Jane Roe.”
Her case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, where the Justices would rule on whether the constitutional right to privacy applied to abortion. The Court’s landmark ruling changed the lives of American women, and unleashed intense controversy, dividing the nation for decades to come.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a special encore presentation of our seven-part series on Supreme Court landmarks. |
| 0:05.6 | We're taking a look back at crucial Supreme Court decisions that fundamentally changed the legal |
| 0:10.4 | landscape of our nation. But just as with today's court, social movements and partisan politics |
| 0:15.6 | often influence those decisions sometimes in unexpected ways. |
| 0:30.1 | Imagine you're in Dallas, Texas in September 1969. You're sitting in the office of your |
| 0:35.6 | OBGYN who has just confirmed your suspicions. You were pregnant. You stare the cold, |
| 0:41.8 | sterile examining room in a days until the doctor snaps you out of it. Now I want to see you again |
| 0:47.3 | next month for a checkup. The nurse will show you out. The doctor glances at his watch and walks |
| 0:54.3 | toward the door to leave. Next month. With that, it suddenly becomes real. You start to take deep |
| 1:00.8 | gasping breaths, but you can't seem to get enough air. It feels like a thousand pounds of |
| 1:05.6 | pressure is weighing on your chest. The doctor closes the door and turns back to you. You feel a |
| 1:12.3 | hand on your shoulder, guiding you down toward the floor. Here, here, put your head down between |
| 1:17.0 | your knees. You take several deep, shuddering breaths. Gradually your heartbeat slows. There, |
| 1:23.5 | better? No. What seems to be the problem? I can't take care of a baby. I'm only 19. |
| 1:30.6 | What about the father? You shake your head. I don't know how to reach him. Your mother, |
| 1:35.8 | grandmother, I'm on my own. I see. There are homes for unwed mothers, and there's always adoption. |
| 1:45.0 | You try to imagine your boss's face if you showed up at the diner with a baby on your hip, |
| 1:49.8 | or even pregnant. The last waitress who got pregnant was fired. You're already behind on your rent. |
| 1:56.0 | Your eyes start to fill with tears. I can't do this, please. Isn't there anything else? |
| 2:01.8 | The doctor perceives his lips. I hope I don't need to remind you that abortions are illegal in |
| 2:07.3 | this state. What about somewhere else? I could take a bus. If you insist, I suppose Colorado or |
| 2:15.3 | California would be the closest option, but residency requirements would make it difficult for |
... |
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