[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 13 (Monday, January 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E77-E78]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           COMMEMORATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROE V. WADE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. AL GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 22, 2008

  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I wish to commemorate the 35th 
Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a United States Supreme Court decision that 
broadened women's rights nationwide.
  On January 22, 1973, three years after ``Jane Roe'' was denied an 
abortion in a Texas district court, the Supreme Court decided that the 
Fourteenth Amendment right of personal privacy was broad enough to 
cover a woman's decision whether to terminate her pregnancy. The Texas 
statute proscribed all abortions not necessary ``for the purpose of

[[Page E78]]

saving the life of the mother.'' ``Jane Roe'', or Norma McCorvey, 
desired an abortion because she was raped; however, her rights were 
firmly denied in the Texas courts. Her case made it to the Supreme 
Court by way of an appeal in 1971. The case was argued twice before the 
Supreme Court because Associate Justice William Rehnquist initially 
missed part of the arguments. After great debate and deliberation, the 
Supreme Court struck down the Texas statute as unconstitutional. The 
decision was made in favor of Roe by a vote of 7 to 2, with Justices 
William Rehnquist and Byron White dissenting. Justice Harry Blackmun 
wrote the opinion of the court declaring that it is a woman's 
constitutional right to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term. 
The court ordered that the performance of an abortion should not be 
criminalized and also ordered that access to an abortion should not be 
restricted, limited or unnecessarily difficult.
  The 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a momentous occasion because 
it symbolizes the notion of liberty and justice for all people under 
the constitution. Women have historically been deprived of equal rights 
and liberty, but this court decision brought a new day for all women. I 
respectfully commemorate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

                          ____________________