Sarah Weddington

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarah Ragle Weddington (born February 5, 1945 in Abilene, Texas) is a American attorney and lecturer from Texas who gained world-wide fame when she and Linda Coffee represented "Jane Roe" (real name Norma McCorvey) in the landmark Roe v. Wade case in the United States Supreme Court.

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[edit] Family and education

She is the daughter of Lena Catherine and Rev. Herbert Doyle Ragle.

Weddington holds honorary doctorates from McMurry University, Hamilton College, Austin College, Southwestern University, and Nova Southeastern University. She received her J.D. degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 1967 (in a class that included United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison) and is a Distinguished Alumna of McMurry University, where she was inducted into the Zeta Nu chapter of Sigma Kappa sorority.

[edit] 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 McCorvey, now claims she became the "pawn" of two young and ambitious lawyers (Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee) who were looking for a plaintiff whom they could use to challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion.

[edit] Political career

Weddington was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972 (where future Texas Governor Ann Richards 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 Counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture, the first woman to hold that position. The following year she became a special White House advisor to President Jimmy Carter. During her time as assistant to Carter, she helped appoint Ruth Bader Ginsburg 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 Austin 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 University. She is working on a book on the topic of leadership.

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Weddington, Sarah. A Question of Choice.
Preceded by
Obsolete district		 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from District 37-2 (Austin)
1973–1977		 Succeeded by
Obsolete district
Preceded by
Obsolete district		 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from District 37-B (Austin)
1977–1977		 Succeeded by
Mary Jane Bode


Persondata
NAME Sarah Weddington
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Texas attorney, legislator, represented Roe in Roe vs. Wade
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Abilene, Texas
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH