How bribery, manipulation and half a million dollars changed her story
In 1973, Norma McCorvey — known as Jane Roe — was the plaintiff in the Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States. It was a groundbreaking moment for choice, but years later, Norma became an anti-abortion crusader.
Now, in a new documentary premiering tonight called “AKA Jane Roe”, she says that it was “all an act.” Anti-abortion leaders like Reverend Rob Schenck paid her close to half a million dollars to speak out publicly against choice.
“I was the big fish,” she said. “I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they’d put me out in front of the cameras and tell me what to say.”
When I think about what happened to Norma, I’m struck by how she was at the center of our national debate around choice, yet she herself had little choice throughout her life. She never had an abortion — by the time her court case had made its way to the Supreme Court, she had long since had the baby and given it up for adoption. Then, later in life, she was used as a puppet, even being forced to end her relationship with her partner, Connie Gonzalez, to be a better spokeswoman for a cause she didn’t truly believe in.
What did Norma believe? In the documentary, filmed at the very end of her life, she states in her typical brash way that “If a young woman wants to have an abortion, that’s no skin off my ass. That’s why they call it choice.”
And after years of bribing Norma, Rev. Rob Schenck, the anti-choice leader who paid her to change sides, has softened his position as well. In an interview with CNN, he said “These days, I think I will never be pregnant, I will never face that crisis in my life. So I don’t really think I’m the best person to advise on it. I think that’s the woman in crisis.”
I agree. With abortion once again before the Supreme Court and states independently trying to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to further an anti-choice agenda, Norma’s story reminds me that all of us need to be able to decide our own futures. And I hope we can do that before we are on our deathbeds, without bribes and with safe care providers by our sides. At MSI, we’ve seen how a coordinated opposition like the one that manipulated Norma can threaten access to abortion. But we’ll keep working to provide choice to every woman who walks through our doors.
“AKA Jane Roe” premieres tonight at 9pm ET on FX and will be available to stream on Hulu tomorrow.
