Roe v. Wade Aimed to Settle Dispute About Abortion. It Didn't.

 

Roe¹ versus² Wade³ is one of the best known Supreme⁴ Court cases.

The issue is whether a healthy woman has a right to end a pregnancy⁵ through an abortion⁶. In Texas in the early 1970s, state law barred such operations.

A 22-year-old pregnant woman living in Texas questioned whether the law was constitutional. For this case, the woman was called “Jane Roe.” Roe was not married. She had little money or education. She wanted to end the pregnancy safely.

So Roe brought legal action against a state official, Henry Wade, for the right to get an abortion at any time, for any reason.

Roe both failed and succeeded.

By the time her case reached the Supreme Court, she had given birth and put the baby up for adoption⁷. And the justices rejected her argument that women have an unrestricted right to abortion.

But a majority said women were permitted to end a pregnancy in the first 13 weeks. That decision, they argued, was protected by a constitutional right to privacy.

Legal experts, activists⁸, lawmakers, and other Americans have debated the ruling ever since.

But the debate did not persuade justices to overrule Roe versus Wade. In 1992, another abortion case came before the Supreme Court. By a narrow majority, the justices upheld the earlier decision.

Words in This Story

overturn - v. to decide that a ruling or decision is wrong and change it

uphold - v. to judge a legal decision to be correct : to decide not to change a verdict

1 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》