'Roe' Humbly Pleads for 1973 Abortion Ruling to Be Overturned
by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
January 19, 2005
(AgapePress) - On Tuesday (January 18) the U.S. Supreme Court heard a historic plea from a woman wanting her landmark decision reversed. Norma McCorvey -- the "Roe" in Roe v. Wade -- says it breaks her heart to see what the 1973 decision legalizing abortion in America has done to women and children.With temperatures in the single digits and supporters huddled on the steps of the Supreme Court building, McCorvey shared the story of her life after her case legalized abortion in the U.S. With obvious emotion in her voice -- and admitting she "did not know much" at the time -- McCorvey acknowledged that in the 1980s, she came out in favor of abortion.
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Norma McCorvey |
"Then, in 1995, my conscience drove me into the arms of Jesus Christ, where I found forgiveness for my sins," she shared. Along with that conversion experience came a desire to advocate an end to abortion. "Today I feel forgiven by Jesus -- I feel loved," she said. "But I do not want anymore women to be injured by abortion, nor do I want anymore children to die."At the news conference in front of the Supreme Court, McCorvey said she has felt responsible for "the deaths of millions of children" who have been aborted since 1973. On behalf of women who say they were physically or emotionally harmed by abortion, she has asked the high court to reverse Roe v. Wade decision that has led to the killing of more than 45 million unborn children.
"I want the Supreme Court to know that abortion hurts women as well as killing their child," she explained. Her petition to the Supreme Court includes sworn statements from more than a thousand women who testify to the after-effects of their abortion experiences.
McCorvey has explained previously that her work with abortion facilities offered her firsthand experience to witness the "horrific nature" of abortion and its "devastation" in the lives of women and young girls. That explains the emotion in her appeal to the justices sitting on the high court.
"I plead, [I] beg with all that I am to the Supreme Court of America to take Roe v. Wade and reverse it because America is slowly dying from the holocaust of abortion that began with [that ruling]," she stated as she stood on the steps of the Supreme Court.
McCorvey was joined at the press conference by Rev. Alveda King -- niece of the slain civil rights leader -- who said she has suffered from her own past abortions. She has had two, one of them involuntarily. Those abortions, she said, have haunted her for years.
"I made the choice to have my second abortion right after Roe v. Wade. The real truth is that abortion hurt me [and] it hurt my living children," said the mother of six. "They often say, 'Well, Mommy, you killed our brother or sister -- did you want to kill me too?' And I've had to answer that and pray."
The niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., explained it was only after she came to know Christ as her Savior that she was able to share about her abortion experiences. "I suffered in silence for ten years, until 1983 when I was born again and the Lord Jesus rescued me from the private pain and began to let me go out and talk about my abortion," she said.
'Silent No More'
A national movement called Operation Outcry: Silent No More empowers women to speak out like Alveda King and to share about how abortion has harmed them. The director of that group, Joyce Zounis, had seven abortions, the first when she was but 15 years old. "Not once in eleven years was I told of the emotional complications an abortion can bring," she laments.
Those complications, she says, include such things as personality changes, numbness, rage, and a "never-ending mental anguish." In addition she says she has had to deal with "the exhaustive effort of balancing my fragile state of mind, the tormenting silence of guilt and shame, the constant dissatisfaction with life, and the absolute need to grieve the loss of my children."
It is because of the physical, emotional, and psychological damage women suffer as a result of abortion that Operation Outcry is dedicated to overturning Roe v. Wade. Another factor, the group says, is the growing scientific evidence about the "undeniable humanity of the child" at the time of conception.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
