Note sull'episodio
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
Full notes and cites: https://opinion-of-the-court.pages.dev/ep/020-roe-v-wade
Official text (U.S. Reports, Library of Congress): https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep410/usrep410113/usrep410113.pdf
Full text of the opinions, AI-narrated (Kokoro-82M, voice af_heart). Original introduction; opinion text is public domain. Not legal advice.
Norma McCorvey, using the pseudonym Jane Roe, was a pregnant, unmarried woman in Dallas who challenged Texas laws making abortion a crime except to save the mother's life. Her case was argued twice.
Justice Blackmun, for a seven-to-two majority, held that the right of privacy, founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether to terminate her pregnancy. He then built the trimester framework: little state regulation in the first trimester, regulation for maternal health in the second, and possible prohibition after viability.
Justices White and Rehnquist dissented. White called the decision an exercise of raw judicial power. Critics across the spectrum, including scholars who supported legal abortion, attacked the opinion's constitutional reasoning from the start. The Court modified Roe in Planned Parenthood versus Casey in 1992 and overruled it in Dobbs versus Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022. Listen for how much of the opinion is history, and how little is constitutional text.
Citations: reporter citations were shortened or left out of the audio; every citation is listed on the website.
Cases named aloud
- Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905) at 74 [as printed: Lochner v. New York, 198 U. S. 45, 74 (1905); Dissent (Mr. Justice Rehnquist)] episode
- Gunn v. University Committee, 399 U.S. 383 (1970) [as printed: Gunn v. University Committee, 399 U. S. 383 (1970); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] (episode link pending)
- Mitchell v. Donovan, 398 U.S. 427 (1970) [as printed: Mitchell v. Donovan, 398 U. S. 427 (1970); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] (episode link pending)
- Florida Lime Growers v. Jacobsen, 362 U.S. 73 (1960) at 80-81 [as printed: Florida Lime Growers v. Jacobsen, 362 U. S. 73, 80-81 (1960); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] (episode link pending)
- Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962) at 204 [as printed: Baker v. Carr, 369 U. S. 186, 204 (1962); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] episode
- Golden v. Zwickler, 394 U.S. 103 (1969) [as printed: Golden v. Zwickler, 394 U. S. 103 (1969); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] (episode link pending)
- SEC v. Medical Committee for Human Rights, 404 U.S. 403 (1972) [as printed: SEC v. Medical Committee for Human Rights, 404 U. S. 403 (1972); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] (episode link pending)
- Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66 (1971) [as printed: Samuels v. Mackell, supra; Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] (episode link pending)
- Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971) [as printed: Younger v. Harris, 401 U. S. 37 (1971); Opinion of the Court (Mr. Justice Blackmun)] episode
(+44 more named aloud; see the website)
Full list of 164 citations not read aloud: https://opinion-of-the-court.pages.dev/ep/020-roe-v-wade