Facts of the Case

On December 13, 1971, a pregnant single woman named Norma Leah McCorvey, also named “Jane Roe”, in the historical U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit of Roe vs. Wade, went into court to begin a very long journey in women’s rights. “Wade” was district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, Hendry B. Wade.

"The majority opinion was written by Harry Blackmun. Concurring opinions were written by Potter Stewart, Warren Burger, and William O. Douglas. The Dissenting opinions were written by William Rehnquist and Byron White."
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/gov/bl_roe_a.htm

When Norma Leah McCorvey brought suit to the Supreme Court, it was because she was pregnant. Before she brought the case to the court, a woman with no child wanted to change the laws so that she could have an abortion if contraception did not work, unpreparedness of parenthood, or impairment of the woman’s health. She said that it was against her constitutional rights as well as any other woman who would like to terminate her pregnancy in the first few months of pregnancy.

The lawyers that had argued the case were:

"Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee for the plaintiff, and John Tolle, Jay Floyd, and Robert Flowers as the defendant’s lawyers. The judges that were the majority include: Harry Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Chief Justice Warren Burger, William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis Powell, and Potter Stewart. The judges that were the dissent include: William Rehnquist and Byron White."
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/gov/bl_roe_a.htm

The state law violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects against state action the right to privacy, including a woman’s qualified right to terminate her pregnancy. The State cannot override that right but it has legitimate interest in protecting the health of the woman and potentiality of human life.

The case was reargued once on October 11, 1972, and then finally decided on January 22, 1973.

http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/gov/bl_roe_a.htm