Sarah Weddington, one of the abortion rights attorneys who argued the Roe v. Wade case before the Supreme Court in 1973, died on Sunday at the age of 76.
“Sarah Weddington died this morning after a series of health issues,” Susan Hays, a former student of Weddington’s said in a tweet on Sunday.
Sarah Weddington died this morning after a series of health issues. With Linda Coffee she filed the first case of her legal career, Roe v. Wade, fresh out of law school. She was my professor at UT, the best writing instructor I ever had, and a great mentor. 1/
— Susan Hays (@hays4ag) December 26, 2021
At 27, Weddington was the youngest woman to argue before the US Supreme Court.
At 27 she argued Roe to SCOTUS. (A fact that always made me feel like a gross underachiever.). Ironically, she worked on the case because law firms would not hire women in the early 70s, leaving her with lots of time for good trouble. 2/
— Susan Hays (@hays4ag) December 26, 2021
Fox News reported:
Sarah Weddington, one of the attorneys who argued the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade in 1973, died at the age of 76, a former student said Sunday.
The daughter of a Methodist minister, Weddington was born in 1945 in Abilene, Texas. She argued Roe in 1972 and won election to the Texas House of Representatives in 1973, where she served three terms. She served in the Department of Agriculture in 1977, and she served as assistant to President Jimmy Carter from 1978 to 1981, directing his administration’s work on women’s issues.
According to Weddington’s book, she traveled Mexico for an illegal abortion in 1967, during her third year of law school.
Norma McCorvey, the woman known as Roe in the case, famously changed her mind and became a staunch pro-life advocate in her later years. Weddington, however, remained committed to abortion.