http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2004/02/19/national1715EST0723.DTL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federal appeals court to hear request to reopen Roe v. Wade LISA FALKENBERG, Associated Press Writer Thursday, February 19, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (02-19) 14:15 PST DALLAS (AP) -- A federal appeals court has agreed to hear a request from the woman formerly known as "Jane Roe" to reconsider the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. Norma McCorvey, who joined with anti-abortion activists nearly 10 years ago, is seeking to have the decision overturned, citing what she says is more than 30 years of evidence that abortions are psychologically harmful to women. A federal district judge threw out her initial request in June, saying it was not made within a reasonable time. But the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear McCorvey's arguments March 2. "It's something that I've wanted ever since Day One, and it's happening," McCorvey said from her Dallas home. Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill, whose predecessor Henry Wade who was named in the original lawsuit, has not filed a response to McCorvey's appeal. That may put the appeals court in the unusual position of hearing arguments from only one side. Wade was named in the original case because he was charged with enforcing the Texas law that prevented McCorvey from having an abortion. Hill's office has argued that since that law no longer exists, Hill has no authority to prosecute and should not be sued. More than 20 Texas law school professors concerned about an unbalanced hearing filed a brief Wednesday asking to be allowed to argue the other side of the case. . . .
