Attorneys Working on Norma McCorvey Case to Overturn Roe Abortion Decision

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 16, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Attorneys Working on Norma McCorvey Case to Overturn Roe Abortion Decision Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 16, 2004

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A lawsuit filed by the woman who was the Roe of the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions is being prepared for battle at the Supreme Court.

Norma McCorvey has changed her mind about abortion and says new information that abortion harms women should prompt the court to overturn its 1973 decision.

In October, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied McCorvey’s Rule 60 motion asking the Supreme Court to reverse the case based on a change in circumstances following the decision.

That new information consists of 5,347 pages of affidavits submitted by women who had abortions and say they regret their decisions. They cite a host of emotional and medical problems associated with the abortions.

Because the appeals court denied McCorvey’s motion, the only option left is to take the case to the Supreme Court — which handed down the landmark abortion decision.

"We have 90 days to submit a petition for writ of certiorari which will be due by January 17th," Alan Parker, president of the Justice Foundation and lead counsel in the case, said. "Our legal team is in the process of working on that petition."

Once the petition is filed, the Supreme Court will determine whether or not it will hear the case.

But, Parker acknowledges the case has a tough road ahead.

"[W]e will be facing many challenges simply because the case is at the Supreme Court
level, thereby generating opposition," Parker explained.

Parker said the case is aided by the Appeals Court’s decision even though it ruled against McCorvey.

He said the appeals court indicated the federal district court was too quick to dismiss the case. Three days after the case was filed, a federal judge dismissed it. That prompted complaints from McCorvey that the judge could not have fully examined the information from the more than 1,000 women who were hurt by their abortions.

Meanwhile, appellate court Judge Edith Jones issued a concurring opinion that blasted the legal foundation of Roe and encouraged the nation’s high court to consider overturning the case.

Parker is asking for prayers from pro-life advocates to help guide the case and the legal decisions his team of attorneys will make.

McCorvey never had an abortion and is upset that pro-abortion attorneys used her situation to press for making abortion legal.

She worked at an abortion facility during the mid 1990s, but then changed her mind about abortion after months of conversations with pro-life advocates. McCorvey eventually converted to Catholicism and began an educational organization dedicated to overturning the case that bore her fictitious name.