Rest in Peace, Norma McCorvey, good and faithful servant.
Katy, Texas—February 18, 2017: Norma McCorvey, the woman who will forever be known as Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, passed away at age 69 after decades of Pro-Life work. McCorvey was 21 years old when a team of anti-Life lawyers exploited her difficult circumstances to bring abortion litigation to the Supreme Court of the United States. What most people don’t know is that McCorvey never aborted her child who was the center of the Roe v. Wade lawsuit. Additionally, Norma eventually became a Pro-Life advocate and spent the rest of her life working to overturn this tragic Supreme Court decision in which she was a pawn in 1972 and 1973.
When Norma faced that unplanned pregnancy, she was homeless and seeking a divorce from her husband. Anti-Life lawyer Sarah Weddington used McCorvey to legally challenge Pro-Life laws in Texas under the guise that Norma wanted to abort and could not. McCorvey was given a pseudonym, “Jane Roe,” in the legal challenges to protect her identity.
In 2000, McCorvey wrote in an affidavit about her experience as the public face of Roe v. Wade:
In retrospect, I was exploited by two self-interested attorneys. Worse, the courts, without looking into my true circumstances and taking the time to decide the real impact abortion would have upon women, I feel used me to justify legalization of terminating of the lives of over 35 million babies. Although on an intellectual level I know I was exploited, the responsibility I feel for this tragedy is overwhelming.
On the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, McCorvey appeared in an ad describing her Pro-Life position. She explained:
Back in 1973, I was a very confused 21-year-old with one child and facing an unplanned pregnancy. At the time, I fought to obtain a legal abortion, but truth be told, I have three daughters and never had an abortion…You read about me in history books, but now I am dedicated to spreading the truth about preserving the dignity of all human life from natural conception to natural death.
Indeed, the child at the center of the Roe v. Wade decision did not die in an abortion. By the time the Supreme Court decided the case, Norma McCorvey’s daughter had already been born and adopted.
Jim Graham, President of Texas Right to Life, asked everyone to pray for Norma’s family and added:
The Texas Right to Life family joins me in celebrating this beautiful soul who transformed her life to help abortion-vulnerable women and women wounded by abortion. Texas Right to Life was blessed and honored to befriend and to work closely with Norma for decades, and her contributions to the Pro-Life movement are too great to be estimated. We pray that she rests in peace.
McCorvey passed away on February 18, 2017, in Katy, Texas. Her life is a testament to the power of the Pro-Life movement. McCorvey overcame the betrayal of the abortion lobby and worked to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Texas Right to Life joins the Pro-Life movement in mourning the passing of a champion for Life.