Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade

by Heidi Miller 

 In 1973, the Supreme Court decided the cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Now, forty years after these landmark decisions, Clarke D. Forsythe, Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life, in his book Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade provides insight as to how these cases were decided the way they were and how they have impacted our culture. While you have to read the book to get the full story, here’s some of what I learned from reading his book.

Roe and Doe are two cases that never had a trial in the District Court. Instead, they had oral arguments for two hours that focused on procedural and jurisdictional issues. Instead of having an appellate court review the facts and legal theories of the case, the cases were appealed directly to the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court decided to hear these cases, they did so to decide whether the case belonged in federal court. But in the end, that’s not all they did.


The Plaintiff in Doe v. Bolton, Sandra Cano, decided that she did not want to have an abortion after she felt her baby move. How was this information relayed to the Court? The Court was told that she did not have an abortion due to poverty.

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