As the country currently battles its first significant abortion case in many years, regarding a Mississippi law that bans all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, the lawyer who actually fought and won abortion rights for women in Roe v. Wade, passes away at age 76. Texas lawyer, Sarah Weddington, was the attorney who won the historic Roe v. Wade at just 26 years of age, back in 1973.
Raised in the West Texas city of Abilene, Sarah Weddington studied law at the University of Texas. Weddington along with her former mate at the UoT, Linda Coffee, challenged a state law that majorly banned abortions, by filing a class-action lawsuit against the state.
Weddington fought and argued for the case twice in late 1971 and 1972, taking the case to a 7-2 ruling in the third year, bringing the final decision in Weddington and Roe’s favor. The historic case went on to be known as Roe v. Wade, due to “Jane Roe” (not her real name), on whose behalf Sarah Weddington and her mate fought Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade.
After her second time appearing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for Roe v. Wade, Sarah Weddington also ran for the Texas House of Representatives and got elected in 1972, serving three terms within the Texas Legislature. She later went on to become the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an advisor to President Jimmy Carter for women’s issues.
Her former student and colleague, Susan Hays, revealed the news of her passing. She passed away in her sleep, at her Austin home at the age of 76. The cause of death is not determined yet, even though she had been in ill health for a while. She was part of the legal as well as political sphere up until her later years, attending the New York state law signing in 2019. protecting abortion rights in the case Roe v. Wade was to ever get overturned. The current abortion case battle is ongoing at the Supreme Court, with the final arguments scheduled for April in the upcoming year. The result is expected in late June or early July of the next year.
