'ROE' OF 'ROE V WADE' FILES MOTION TO RE-OPEN LANDMARK ABORTION CASE
Over 1000 Women Testify to Devastating Consequences of Abortion

DALLAS, June 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Norma McCorvey, the former "Roe"
of Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, is
filing an historic motion today to re-open her case and request that it be
overturned. The filing is based on changes in law and factual conditions
since the high court handed down its decision 30 years ago.

As a party to the original litigation, Norma McCorvey may petition the court
to re-open the original case based on changes in factual conditions and/or
changes in law that make the prior decision "no longer just," said Allan E.
Parker Jr., lead attorney for the Texas-based Justice Foundation.

The motion attacks the judgment that was first entered exactly 33 years ago
today by the Dallas Federal Court. McCorvey is asking that the judgment in
the original Roe case be set aside.

"I long for the day that justice will be done and the burden from all of
these deaths will be removed from my shoulders," McCorvey said. "I want to
do everything in my power to help women and their children. The issue is
justice for women, justice for unborn, and justice for what is right."

The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned its own precedents using Rule 60(b)(5)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 60), most recently in the 1997
decision of Agostini vs. Felton. In that case, the high court used a
post-judgment motion by a party to overturn two of its own 12-year-old
precedents.

Parker said the legal question in the case is, "Is it just to continue
giving Roe vs. Wade future application?" Using Rule 60, there are three
major arguments to re-open and overturn the case on the basis of changed
facts and law:

1. Norma McCorvey, and more than 1,000 women who have actually had
abortions, have signed affidavits that attest to the devastating emotional,
physical, and psychological trauma of abortion. These affidavits are the
largest body of sworn evidence in the world on the negative effects of
abortion on women. It is more than a thousand times more evidence from women
than the Court heard in Roe.

2. The unanswered question in Roe's former case, "when does human life
begin?" was treated by the Court as a philosophical question when the case
was first heard in 1973. Since then, an explosion of scientific evidence on
human life conclusively answers the question that life begins at conception.

3. The state of Texas in 1999 enacted a law in which it agreed to provide
for any woman's unwanted child from the child's birth to 18 years of age
with no questions asked. Legally, because the state has agreed to take
responsibility for all unwanted children, women should no longer be forced
to dispose of "unwanted" children by ending a human life. Forty states have
similar Baby Moses laws.

"The result of granting the motion would be to set aside and annul Roe vs.
Wade and Doe vs. Bolton, its companion case. This would return the issue of
protecting women and children to the people with Baby Moses laws serving as
a safety net", Parker said.

The San Antonio, Texas-based Justice Foundation will represent Norma
McCorvey in the case.


Legal Evidence Entered Into Court

Following are excerpts from the more than 1,000 women who have filed sworn
affidavits as part of this Rule 60 court challenge. A copy of the entire
record is available in Dallas federal court. (Cities and dates are for
abortion, not current residence).

-- "If I imagine what hell is then I say that is how my life was before I
found counseling and healing. I became an alcoholic, lost my will to live,
hated life in general." Lisa. Eugene, Ore., June 1976, 1980 and 1980.

-- "It has affected me emotionally. I was unable to bond with anyone. I have
suffered depression. It caused years of self-destructive behavior." Paula.
Cleveland, Ohio, July 1978.

-- "Inability to form deep relationships, guilt, anxiety attacks. For a long
time inability to hold or be near babies." Shirley. Los Angeles, Calif.,
1982; and, Norway, 1970.

-- "I have had many medical problems that I attribute to having the abortion
including pre-term pregnancies, abnormal paps, and abnormal periods." Susan.
Fort Worth, Texas, March, 1977.

-- "Had a replacement child in 1979, who recently had her own abortion
(06/15/01), also affected my self-esteem and eventually became promiscuous."
Kathleen. Port Chester, NY, May 12, 1975; and, Mamaroneck, NY, December 3,
1975.

-- "Emotionally I feel rejected by all. I feel alone." Grace. Jacksonville,
NC, 1976.

-- "Years of mood swings, eating disorders, promiscuity, low self-esteem and
relationship with my other children." Reatha. Baltimore, Md., November 1979.

-- "I spent years going from relationship to relationship and I became more
sexually active. Alienated from family, problems in school, old friends
became distant." Maureen. Bridgeport, PA, January, 1978, March, 1979; and,
Philadelphia, PA, March, 1979.

-- "Daily sorry and regret over death of my children caused by my own
actions." Beverly. Atlanta, GA, 1974 and 1977.

-- "Severe depression, especially in January, knowing my child would be
another year older." Wendy. Howell, NJ, 1985.

-- "I have panic disorder, low self esteem which led to promiscuity. I drank
and got involved with snorting cocaine. I got HPV, which damaged my cervix
-- had surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells. I have colon problems and at
risk for breast cancer (news - web sites)." Christina Grace. Newark, Del.,
1986; and, Dover, Neb., 1988.

-- "Ten years after the abortion I almost had a nervous breakdown. Have
suffered emotionally for twenty-five years." D.E., Atlanta, Ga., August
1975.

-- "I felt empty inside for quite some time. I also began the spiral of
compulsive eating which has led to extreme obesity." A.D.C.H., San Antonio,
Texas, February 22, 1984.

-- "I went from being on the Dean's List in college to getting Fs,
incompletes, and withdraws. I attempted suicide. I was depressed. The guilt
was overwhelming." H.A.K. Knoxville, Tenn., May 12, 1984.

-- "I have been suicidal, depressed, had extreme anxiety, had nightmares,
suffered from grief and self destructive behaviors." Candice. San Diego
County, California, March, 1996.

-- "Guilt -- lack of ability to deal adequately with true love and sex in
marriage." L.D.M. England, September 1970.

-- "Depression, nightmares, divorce." Darla. Memphis, Tenn., April 1986.

-- "My abortion took away my sense of self-worth and self confidence. It has
made me question my ability to make competent decisions." A.C.N. New
Orleans, La., 1981.

-- "It is my biggest regret. It has caused depression and thoughts of
suicide. Also, complications in becoming pregnant and carrying a child."
Kathryn. Kansas City, Mo., 1981, 1982, and 1983.

-- "It has left an emptiness and pain that never goes away." Dianne. New
Jersey, January 15, 1979.

-- "I'm always thinking about my unborn child." Niria. Houston, Texas, 1995
and 1999.

-- "I have been in therapy for rages of anger. I was also treated for an
eating disorder that has affected me physically as well." Rexene.
Montgomery, Ala. 1991.

-- "Emotional pain and torment for years until God forgave and healed me. It
has affected me physically as well. I cannot have children." Dorothy. San
Antonio, Texas, February 1975.

-- "If abortion was illegal, I would have never had to go through all of the
pain and the guilt. I (might) have graduated from college instead of
dropping out. The pain and guilt of abortion caused me to attempt
suicide...maybe the only reason I survived was so that I could make a
difference by telling my horrifying story." H.A.K. Knoxville, Tenn., May 12,
1984.

-- "Abortion kills. Not only the child, but the human spirit. The mother and
father are victims as well. I tried to take my own life because of the guilt
and remorse. I felt I was a walking tomb." Sheila Lynn. Tallahassee, Fla.,
June 7, 1985.

-- "Listen to those voices of those who have experienced the physical and
emotional consequences. A whole segment of society -- men and women -- are
suffering because they did what was wrong even though it was legal."
Shirley. Los Angeles, Calif., 1982; and, Norway, 1970.

For more information see: http://www.operationoutcry.org

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