Case that caused a national firestorm

Tussle in Congress over Jane Roe’s fight

In 1973 the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favour of the plaintiff in the case of Roe vs Wade.

Plaintiff “Jane Roe” – later identified by her real name Norma Mccorvey – was an unmarried pregnant woman who could not have an abortion in Texas, where it was illegal unless to save the life of the mother.

Her lawyers sued Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the law in Texas infringed on women’s constitutional right to privacy. It said: “This right of privacy is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”

The decision provoked a firestorm among opponents of abortion which has continued to this day.

However, the case was widely regarded as having settled the issue, and Congress never passed a bill “codifying” the ruling into law.

In most cases the socalled “filibuster” procedure now means it requires 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate to pass a bill.

Not since the 1970s have Democrats held more than 60 Senate seats.

Recently, as the potential for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade became clear, an attempt was made to pass a law in Congress.

In February, Democrats put forward the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified Roe vs Wade.

However, it garnered only 46 votes as not even every Democrat voted for it.

Joe Biden pledged in the 2020 election that he would codify Roe vs Wade, and urged that effort to continue now.

The Senate is currently split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding a casting vote.

Left-wing Democrats demanded the party’s leadership take the so-called “nuclear” option of changing the filibuster rules so abortion rights legislation could pass by a simple majority.

Senator Bernie Sanders said: “If there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes.”

However, to change the filibuster would in itself require a majority.

Last night, two Democrat senators – Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – said they would uphold the filibuster.

Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, said there would be a vote on codifying Roe vs Wade anyway, even though it would not pass.