Sarah Ragle Weddington (born February 5, 1945, in
Abilene, TexasAbilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in the central part of the U.S. state of Texas. The population is about 120,000 in 2008. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
) is a
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
attorneyA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
and lecturer from
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
who gained world-wide fame when she and
Linda CoffeeLinda Nellene Coffee is an attorney living in Dallas, Texas. Coffee is best known for representing Norma McCorvey , a pregnant woman who desired an abortion, in the precedent-setting United States Supreme Court case Roe v...
represented "Jane Roe" (real name
Norma McCorveyNorma Leah McCorvey , better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional...
) in the landmark
Roe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , a landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion, is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.In Roe v...
case in the United States Supreme Court.
She is the daughter of Lena Catherine and Rev. Herbert Doyle Ragle.
Weddington holds honorary doctorates from
McMurry UniversityMcMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including...
,
Hamilton CollegeHamilton College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in Clinton, New York. The college is known for its emphasis on writing and speaking...
,
Austin CollegeAustin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated by covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Church and located in Sherman, Texas, an hour north of Dallas....
,
Southwestern UniversitySouthwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas.-History:...
, and
Nova Southeastern UniversityNova Southeastern University, commonly referred to as NSU or Nova, is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian, research university located in Broward County, Florida, with its' main campus in the town of Davie...
. She received her
J.D.Juris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
degree from
The University of Texas School of LawThe University of Texas School of Law is an ABA-certified American law school located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The law school has been in existence since the founding of the University in 1883. It was one of only two schools at the University when it was founded; the other was...
in 1967 (in a class that included United States Senator
Kay Bailey HutchisonKathryn Ann "Kay" Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas and a candidate for the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election. She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. She is the first...
) and is a Distinguished Alumna of
McMurry UniversityMcMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including...
, where she was inducted into the Zeta Nu chapter of
Sigma KappaSigma Kappa is a sorority founded in 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Frances Elliott Mann Hall and Louise Helen Coburn...
sorority.
Weddington was 26 years old when the case was first argued before the Supreme Court, and it was her first contested case.
Sarah Ragle Weddington (born February 5, 1945, in
Abilene, TexasAbilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in the central part of the U.S. state of Texas. The population is about 120,000 in 2008. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
) is a
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
attorneyA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
and lecturer from
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
who gained world-wide fame when she and
Linda CoffeeLinda Nellene Coffee is an attorney living in Dallas, Texas. Coffee is best known for representing Norma McCorvey , a pregnant woman who desired an abortion, in the precedent-setting United States Supreme Court case Roe v...
represented "Jane Roe" (real name
Norma McCorveyNorma Leah McCorvey , better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional...
) in the landmark
Roe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , a landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion, is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.In Roe v...
case in the United States Supreme Court.
Family and education
She is the daughter of Lena Catherine and Rev. Herbert Doyle Ragle.
Weddington holds honorary doctorates from
McMurry UniversityMcMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including...
,
Hamilton CollegeHamilton College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in Clinton, New York. The college is known for its emphasis on writing and speaking...
,
Austin CollegeAustin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated by covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Church and located in Sherman, Texas, an hour north of Dallas....
,
Southwestern UniversitySouthwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas.-History:...
, and
Nova Southeastern UniversityNova Southeastern University, commonly referred to as NSU or Nova, is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian, research university located in Broward County, Florida, with its' main campus in the town of Davie...
. She received her
J.D.Juris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
degree from
The University of Texas School of LawThe University of Texas School of Law is an ABA-certified American law school located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The law school has been in existence since the founding of the University in 1883. It was one of only two schools at the University when it was founded; the other was...
in 1967 (in a class that included United States Senator
Kay Bailey HutchisonKathryn Ann "Kay" Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas and a candidate for the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election. She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. She is the first...
) and is a Distinguished Alumna of
McMurry UniversityMcMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional programs, including...
, where she was inducted into the Zeta Nu chapter of
Sigma KappaSigma Kappa is a sorority founded in 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Frances Elliott Mann Hall and Louise Helen Coburn...
sorority.
Roe v. Wade
Weddington was 26 years old when the case was first argued before the Supreme Court, and it was her first contested case. She is thought to be the youngest person to win a Supreme Court case.
"Roe", whose real name is
Norma McCorveyNorma Leah McCorvey , better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional...
, now claims she became the "pawn" of a young and ambitious lawyer (Sarah Weddington) who was looking for a plaintiff whom they could use to challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion. Norma McCorvey actually approached Sarah Weddington while she was working at the University of Texas Law School with issues regarding the use and prescribing of birth control pills. From that, the issues developed into the abortion question which eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sarah Weddington actually argued this case twice before the U.S. Supreme Court, once at age 26, and then again at age 27.
Political career
Weddington was elected to the
Texas House of RepresentativesThe Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from sinlge-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
in 1972 (where future Texas Governor
Ann RichardsDorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was defeated for...
was her administrative assistant) and was re-elected twice; she was the first woman elected to represent Austin, Texas, in the Texas House of Representatives.
She resigned her seat in 1977 when she was appointed
General CounselA general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
for the
United States Department of AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, the first woman to hold that position. The following year she became a special
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
advisor to President
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. During her time as assistant to Carter, she helped appoint
Ruth Bader GinsburgRuth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton with the support of Republican Judiciary Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch in 1993 and generally votes with the liberal wing of the court...
to a federal judgeship.
She later founded the Weddington Center. She wrote the book,
A Question of Choice, detailing the
Roe v. Wade case.
Currently, Weddington is an Adjunct Professor at
The University of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a public research university located in Austin, Texas, United States, and is the flagship institution of The University of Texas System. The main campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol...
and travels the world delivering speeches on leadership, her experiences with breast cancer and women's issues. She teaches leadership courses at institutions including
Texas Woman's UniversityTexas Woman's University is a university in Denton, Texas, United States with two health science center branches in Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas...
. She is working on a book on the topic of leadership.
External links
Further reading
- Weddington, Sarah. A Question of Choice.