Norma McCorvey

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Norma McCorvey bigraphy, stories - Plaintiff in Roe v. Wade

Norma McCorvey : biography

22 September 1947 –

Norma Leah McCorvey (née Nelson; born September 22, 1947), better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973.Mughal, Muhammad Aurang Zeb. (2010). Roe v. Wade. Brigitte H. Bechtold and Donna Cooper Graves (eds), An Encyclopedia of Infanticide. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, pp. 227-228. By Alex Witchel in The New York Times (July 28, 1994) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that individual state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional. Later, McCorvey’s opinion on abortion changed substantially, and she is now active in pro-life causes.

Books

  • I Am Roe (1994) ISBN 0-06-017010-7 ISBN 0-06-092638-4
  • Won by Love (1998) ISBN 0-7852-7237-2 ISBN 0-7567-7332-6

Personal life

McCorvey was born in Simmesport, Louisiana, and raised in Houston, Texas as a Jehovah’s Witness. McCorvey’s father left the family when she was 13 years old and her parents subsequently divorced. She and her older brother were raised by their mother Mildred, a violent alcoholic. McCorvey’s father died on September 27, 1995. She is of partial Cajun and Cherokee ancestry.

McCorvey dropped out of high school at the age of 14. Two years later, she married Woody McCorvey (born 1940), but left him after he abused her. She moved in with her mother and gave birth to her first child, Melissa (born 1965).. People. May 22, 1989. The following year, McCorvey again became pregnant and gave birth to a baby that was placed for adoption. She then returned to live with her mother, but when Norma intimated that she was sexually attracted to women, her mother disowned her and took custody of Norma’s daughter, Melissa.

Books and conversion

In her first book, the 1994 autobiography, I Am Roe, McCorvey wrote of her sexual orientation. For many years, she had lived quietly in Dallas with her long-time partner, Connie Gonzales. "We’re not like other lesbians, going to bars," she explained in a New York Times interview. "We’re lesbians together. We’re homers." That same year, she converted to Christianity and expressed remorse for her part in the Supreme Court decision. McCorvey has worked as part of the pro-life movement, such as Operation Rescue.

At a signing of I Am Roe, McCorvey was befriended by evangelical minister Flip Benham. She was baptized on August 8, 1995, by Benham in a Dallas, Texas, backyard swimming pool, an event that was filmed for national television. Two days later she announced that she had become an advocate of Operation Rescue’s campaign to make abortion illegal.

McCorvey’s second book, Won by Love, was published in 1998. She explained her change on the stance of abortion with the following comments:

Shortly thereafter, McCorvey released a statement that affirmed her entrance into the Roman Catholic Church, and she has been confirmed into the church as a full member.http://www.priestsforlife.org/columns/conversionofnorma.html The Conversion of Norma McCorvey. Priests for Life. Rev. Frank Pavone

McCorvey has also stated that she is no longer a lesbian. On August 17, 1998, she was received into the Catholic Church by Father Frank Pavone, the International Director of Priests for Life and Father Edward Robinson in Dallas.

Social and political causes

In February 2005, McCorvey petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 decision with McCorvey v. Hill, arguing that the case should be heard once again in light of evidence that the procedure harms women, but the petition was denied.

On January 22, 2008, McCorvey endorsed Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. McCorvey stated, "I support Ron Paul for president because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe v. Wade. He has never wavered on the issue of being pro-life and has a voting record to prove it. He understands the importance of civil liberties for all, including the unborn." – msnbc.com