TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Dec 28, 2021

Texas lawyer Sarah Weddington, who at 26 successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday, the Associated Press reports. She was 76. Just a few years after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Weddington brought a class-action suit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions. The case of “Jane Roe” first was brought against the Dallas County district attorney but eventually advanced to the Supreme Court. Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion. Weddington ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 1972 and served three terms before becoming general counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later working as an advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter.