Jane Roe vs Wade

The Jane Roe
of Roe vs Wade

"At the time of the case, she (Norma McCovey) claimed her pregnancy was the result of rape, but she now admits that she was lying. At one point, she went so far as to give a detailed account of her rape. Her (at the time) alleged rape was not mentioned or used in the arguments for Roe v. Wade, because the attorneys had determined McCorvey's claims to be questionable. McCorvey went public with her identity in the 1980s
McCorvey now claims she became the "pawn" of two young and ambitious lawyers (including Sarah Weddington) who were looking for a plaintiff whom they could use to challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion

"In the book, McCorvey, a ninth-grade dropout, describes a tough life, explaining that she suffered physical and emotional abuse as a child, spent some time in reform school in Gainesville, Texas, and was raped as a teen-ager. She was later beaten by a husband whom she married at age 16. She also tells of her alcohol and drug abuse, and experiences with lovers of both sexes
Her first child, Melissa, was raised by her mother; her second child was raised by the father, and the couple agreed that McCorvey would never contact her
She drifted through a series of dead-end jobs, including work as a bartender and a carnival barker. Once she went public with her story, she worked in several clinics where abortions were performed and did some public speaking, garnering publicity and a little bit of celebrity.

At a signing of her first book in 1994, McCorvey was confronted by pro-life activist Flip Benham. Within a year, McCorvey converted to Christianity in 1995. On August 8, she was baptized by Benham in a Dallas backyard swimming pool that was filmed for national television. On August 10 of that year, she announced that she had become an advocate of the pro-life movement (specifically, "Operation Rescue"), fighting to make abortion illegal
For the majority of her life, she has been bisexual, having encounters with people of both sexes, but has renounced her bisexuality in recent years
In 1998, she released a statement that affirmed her entrance into the Roman Catholic Church, and she has been confirmed into the Church as a full member."
[ from a CNN.com profile & Wikipedia entry for Norma McCovey (Roe). ]

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