Texas Governor Rick Perry Issues Statement on Roe v. Wade 40th Anniversary

Tuesday, January 22^nd, 2013 marks the 40^th anniversary of the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision on Roe v. Wade.

The case occurred after Dallas resident Norma McCorvey found that she was pregnant with her third child. McCorvey decided that she wanted an abortion, and attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington filed suit.

The case was first accepted by the Supreme Court in 1970, and issued a decision on January 22^nd, 1973 in a 7 to 2 majority vote in favor of Roe, with Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist dissenting.

Due to this anniversary, Texas Governor Rick Perry released a statement Monday afternoon, saying:

“Roe v. Wade paved the way for the loss of more than 54 million innocent lives, with more than a million added to that total with each passing year. This catastrophic loss of life is a grim testament to judicial activism, and a tragic stain on our national conscience. In Texas, we’ve worked hard to strengthen our abortion laws to the greatest extent possible under Roe v. Wade. We will continue working to empower families and protect our children’s future, until the day abortion is nothing more than a tragic footnote in our nation’s history.”