Sarah Weddington, Who Successfully Argued Roe v. Wade, Dies at 76

Sarah Weddington, the young Texas lawyer whose palmy arguments earlier the Supreme Court successful the landmark Roe v. Wade lawsuit led to the legalization of termination passim the United States, died connected Sunday astatine her location successful Austin. She was 76.

Rebecca Seawright, a erstwhile adjunct to Ms. Weddington and a subordinate of the New York State Assembly, said that she had been successful declining wellness but that the origin of her decease had yet to beryllium determined.

Ms. Weddington was 26 and had ne'er tried a ineligible lawsuit erstwhile she and Linda Coffee, her co-counsel, went earlier the Supreme Court successful 1971. Their ineligible conflict culminated connected Jan. 22, 1973, erstwhile the tribunal ruled successful 1 of the astir consequential decisions successful American past that a Texas authorities instrumentality banning abortions but to prevention the woman’s beingness was unconstitutional.

Polls amusement that Americans are much acquainted with Roe than with astir immoderate different Supreme Court decision. That shouldn’t beryllium surprising; it has been astatine the halfway of governmental statement for decades and present faces its astir superior challenge, with the tribunal seemingly poised to uphold a Mississippi law that could fundamentally rotation backmost Roe.

Ms. Weddington and Ms. Coffee were caller graduates of the University of Texas School of Law successful Austin. In the precocious 1960s, Ms. Weddington was friends with respective women successful Austin who were actively referring assemblage students and others to doctors successful the United States who would execute abortions illegally, and to different countries wherever abortions were legal.

At 1 point, the women asked Ms. Weddington if they could beryllium prosecuted arsenic accomplices. She said she didn’t cognize — until that point, the lone ineligible cases she had handled were uncontested divorces, wills for radical with nary wealth and an adoption for her uncle. But she was consenting to probe the substance for free.

She phoned Ms. Coffee, who was practicing instrumentality successful Dallas and had much experience, having clerked for Sarah T. Hughes, a well-known national territory judge. At the time, Ms. Coffee was moving with a stateless large pistillate named Norma McCorvey, who was seeking an abortion. In December 1969, Ms. Coffee sent Ms. Weddington a missive asking if she wanted to articulation forces and correspond Ms. McCorvey successful a situation to the Texas instrumentality banning abortions.

“Would you see being co-counsel successful the lawsuit that a suit is really filed?” Ms. Coffee wrote. “I person ever recovered that it is simply a large woody much amusive to enactment with idiosyncratic connected a suit of this nature.”

In February 1970, the 2 met with Ms. McCorvey astatine a pizza store successful Dallas and persuaded her to motion connected arsenic an anonymous plaintiff, Jane Roe. Ms. Coffee prepared the ineligible brief, which became a class-action suit, against Henry Wade, the territory lawyer for Dallas County. Both Ms. Coffee and Ms. Weddington argued the lawsuit successful Federal District Court and won.

The Supreme Court archetypal heard appeals connected Dec. 13, 1971, with Ms. Weddington making the oral arguments.

“Weddington enjoyed the nationalist signifier arsenic overmuch arsenic Coffee disliked it,” Joshua Prager, a journalist, wrote successful Vanity Fair successful 2017. “Moreover, contempt her brilliance, Coffee could travel crossed arsenic bedraggled. And optics mattered. ‘She was younger than I was,’ Coffee said of Weddington. ‘She was blond, blue-eyed.’”

Jay Floyd, who was representing Texas, opened his statement with what commentators person called the “worst gag successful ineligible history.” “It’s an aged joke,” Mr. Floyd told the court, “but erstwhile a antheral argues against 2 beauteous ladies similar this, they are going to person the past word.”

As it happened, lone 7 of the 9 justices heard the arguments that time — 2 others had retired and had not yet been replaced. The justices past decided that the lawsuit should beryllium reargued earlier the afloat court. All justices were sitting erstwhile Ms. Weddington came backmost connected Oct. 11, 1972, and reargued the case.

Their 7-2 determination held that Texas had violated Roe’s law close to privateness arsenic outlined successful the First, Fourth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The determination was wide praised astatine the time. But with the emergence of the spiritual close a fewer years later, termination became a volcanic governmental issue, and it remains 1 of the astir divisive successful American society. Ms. Weddington received decease threats and often traveled with security.

Sarah was 16 erstwhile she enrolled astatine McMurry College, present McMurry University, a tiny Methodist schoolhouse successful Abilene. She majored successful English and graduated magna cum laude astatine property 19 successful 1964. She earned her instrumentality grade from the University of Texas astatine Austin successful 1967.

During her past twelvemonth of instrumentality school, she had an abortion, which she disclosed successful her 1992 book, “A Question of Choice.” She and her boyfriend, Ron Weddington, who would go her hubby successful 1968, drove to Mexico, wherever she said she had a harmless abortion. But she was good alert of the grim experiences of different women.

“Some had beaten their ain abdomens oregon jumped down stairs to effort to induce an abortion,” she wrote successful Texas Monthly successful 2003. “Others had eaten mixtures of chemicals and cleaning products.”

She and Mr. Weddington, who was besides a lawyer, acceptable up a instrumentality signifier successful Austin. They divorced successful 1974. Her brother, John Ragle, is her sole contiguous survivor.

While waiting successful 1972 for the Supreme Court to manus down its determination successful Roe v. Wade, Ms. Weddington ran for and won a spot successful the Texas House. With Ann Richards, the aboriginal politician of Texas, arsenic 1 of her legislative aides, she pushed done respective bills regarding women’s rights, including 1 that accrued the statute of limitations connected reporting rape from 2 to 3 years, and besides barred the questioning of a rape unfortunate astir her anterior enactment life.

A 1975 nonfiction successful Texas Monthly said that Ms. Weddington mightiness beryllium “the hardest-working subordinate of the House” and named her 1 of the 10 champion legislators successful the state. It said she had won the respect of old-school antheral legislators — but besides that her feminist principles sometimes led her into hopeless battles.

She had served somewhat much than 2 presumption erstwhile she went to Washington arsenic wide counsel of the Department of Agriculture successful 1977.

From 1978 until 1981, she served arsenic an adjunct connected women’s issues to President Jimmy Carter. Mr. Carter opposed national backing for abortions, which Ms. Weddington supported, but she said publically that she would not marque an contented of their differences.

Some feminists believed she had compromised herself, The New York Times reported successful 1978. But she made it up to them when, a small much than a period aft taking office, she masterminded the Senate’s support of extending the deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

After Mr. Carter’s decision successful the 1980 election, Ms. Weddington stayed successful Washington and served arsenic the archetypal pistillate manager of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations. Moving backmost to Texas successful 1985, she became a motivational talker and addressed audiences crossed the country. She lectured astatine Texas Woman’s University, wherever she aboriginal became an adjunct prof successful the section of past and government, and taught classes successful gender-based favoritism and enactment astatine the University of Texas.

She continued to travel, including to Albany, N.Y., erstwhile Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a measurement successful 2019 to strengthen authorities protections for termination rights successful the look of expanding threats to Roe v. Wade.

“I americium definite erstwhile my obituary is written, the pb paragraph volition beryllium astir Roe v. Wade,” she wrote successful Texas Monthly successful 2003.

“I thought, implicit a play of time, that the close of a pistillate to marque a determination astir what she would bash successful a peculiar gestation would beryllium accepted,” she added, “that by this time, the 30th day of Roe v. Wade, the contention implicit termination would person gradually faded distant similar the closing scenes of a movie and we could spell connected to different issues.

“I was wrong.”