Who was Jane Roe?
The real name of the woman anonymously named “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade is Norma McCorvey. In her lawsuit, she claimed to have become pregnant as the result of rape and argued that she should therefore be allowed to have an abortion, despite the laws against abortion in her home state of Texas. She gave birth to the child and placed her for adoption before the 1973 ruling legalized abortion. McCorvey worked in the pro-choice movement and for an abortion clinic for several years thereafter.
After publicly identifying herself as Jane Roe, McCorvey became friends with Rev. Flip Benham and other pro-lifers. Her book, Won By Love, recounts how the compassion pro-lifers showed to her brought her into the pro-life movement. McCorvey admitted to the many fabrications in the Roe v. Wade case, including her claim to have been raped. In 2005 she asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade on the basis of new evidence showing that abortion hurts women.
Though some have claimed McCorvey may have recanted her pro-life position shortly before her death in 2017, those who knew her testify that she remained a pro-life advocate until the end.
Sources:
McCorvey, Norma. Won By Love. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998.
