In the year 1970, it was illegal in many states in the U.S. for women to get an abortion, which a woman named Norma McCorvey sought to change. She was a Texas resident who was determined to end her pregnancy through abortion and strongly believed that the Texas law which criminalized abortion went against women's Fourteenth Amendment right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. Mrs. McCorvey preferred to protect her identity, so she used the name "Jane Roe." The Roe vs. Wade case remains today one of the most debatable decisions in the history of the Supreme Court.

The case arose in 1970 when Jane's attorney, Sarah Weddington, filed the lawsuit. The defendant's name was Henry Wade, a Dallas County District Attorney. On December 13, 1971, both Jane Roe and Henry Wade appealed to the Supreme Court. Arguments from Weddington and Texas Assistant Attorney General Jay Floyd were proposed to...