Norma’s Choice

Better known as the “Jane Roe” in the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, Norma McCorvey has led a conflicted life. Forty years ago, she was at the center of the court decision that famously legalized abortion. Today, she is a zealous anti-abortion advocate, starring in campaigns against President Barack Obama’s stance on the issue. In *Vanity Fair’*s February issue, Joshua Prager delves into why McCorvey turned against the cause she once championed. See her moral transformation—from pro-choice rallies with celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred to her marches alongside pro-life pastors.

By Alyssa Bereznak

January 18, 2013

Photos Photos The Transformation of Roe v. Wades Norma McCorvey from Prochoice Advocate to Antiabortion Spokesperson

McCorvey led an anti-abortion protest in 2009 in South Bend, Indiana, to object to the selection of President Obama as the Notre Dame commencement speaker.
Her former attorney Gloria Allred joined her on the court steps.

In April 1989, McCorvey—still an advocate for the pro-choice movement—attended a Supreme Court hearing for the Missouri abortion case Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, a case that ultimately restricted state funds and facilities from aiding with abortions.
In 1987, she brought new attention to her cause when she admitted that she had lied about being raped in order to seek an abortion in 1970.

Nearly 10 years later, in 2005, McCorvey continued to act as a figurehead for the pro-life movement. Here, she speaks on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to reverse the Roe v. Wade decision, this time flanked by members of the Justice Foundation.
In 1985, more than 10 years after the Roe v. Wade decision, Norma McCorvey remained a strong advocate for the right to abortion. Here, her “spontaneous bursts of enthusiasm” are captured in this office portrait.

In 2008, McCorvey was featured in a pro-life commercial. “Upon knowing God,” she says in the clip, “I realize that my case, which legalized abortion on demand, was the biggest mistake of my life.”
During Obama’s campaign for re-election, McCorvey starred in yet another pro-life commercial, in which she explains she was “persuaded by feminist attorneys to lie to say that I’d been raped.”

Sandra Cano (the Doe in Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court), McCorvey, and Dr. Ken Edelin of Boston University College of Medicine testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in June of 2005. Both Cano and McCorvey said they’d like to overturn their cases that made abortion legal.
In April 1992, McCorvey and Allred wore matching pro-choice sweaters at an abortion-rights rally, where they met actresses Veronica Hamel and Jill Eikenberry.

During the summer of 1995, McCorvey rejected her role as an abortion activist, accepted Jesus as her savior, and was baptized by the national director of Operation Rescue, Reverend Flip Benham. Here she’s photographed with Benham in San Diego a few days before the Republican National Convention.
In 1996, McCorvey starred in a pro-life movie titled Reversing Roe: The Norma McCorvey Story, in which she retold her story as a born-again Christian.