Roe V Wade's Jane Roe: Change of Heart

Once the Chief Litigant for Abortion, Now a Defender of Life

"I'm one hundred percent sold out to Jesus and one hundred percent pro-life," Norma says. "No exceptions. No compromise."

Who is this Norma, and what did she do?

Norma McCorvey was "Jane Roe" on whose behalf the Roe verses Wade lawsuit was originally filed, alleging that the abortion law in Texas violated her constitutional rights and the rights of other women. The defendant was the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, Henry B. Wade.

Poor, pregnant, and desperate, Norma McCorvey fell into the hands of two young and ambitious lawyers. They were looking for a plaintiff with whom they could challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion, and Norma signed on. Little did she know that her signature would one day make her an international figure.

Though she was touted as a symbol of everything women could gain by being free to choose an abortion, the real Jane Roe was an embarrassment to the image that the Ivy League feminists tried so hard to project. Norma was uneducated, unskilled, a drug user, and an alcoholic. She became a helpless pawn in a powerful game.

Working inside the abortion industry, Norma saw how abortion degraded women; she was surprised at the exorbitant dollars that kept rolling into the doctors' pockets; she saw the blatant exploitation as abortion advocates put political rhetoric above safe medicine; and she eventually began to question the movement for which she once said she "lived and breathed."

Eventually, Norma's worst nightmare came true. The controversial pro-life group Operation Rescue moved in next door to Norma's abortion clinic. A little girl's affection, a mother's trust, and a gregarious man's friendship surprised Norma, and eventually led her to consider the love, forgiveness, and hope offered by Jesus Christ.