Honors College Theses

Publication Date

5-2024

Major

History (B.A.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Faculty Mentor

Felicity M. Turner

Abstract

Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, 1973, wrote two memoirs twenty years after the Supreme Court trial that surrounded her third pregnancy. These memoirs (I Am Roe, 1994, and Won by Love, 1997), along with the recent documentary AKA Jane Roe (2020), provide an insight into McCorvey’s life and how she was used by politicians and civilians during and after the influential trial. McCorvey lived a complicated life and was constantly being pulled in different directions spiritually, politically, and personally. This thesis shows how McCorvey attempted to re-write the narrative of her life using written memoirs and a documentary. Outside sources will be used alongside the memoirs to explore how McCorvey was used as “Jane Roe” for many years after the trial ended.

Thesis Summary

Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, 1973, wrote two memoirs twenty years after the Supreme Court trial that surrounded her third pregnancy. These memoirs (I Am Roe, 1994, and Won by Love, 1997), along with the recent documentary AKA Jane Roe (2020), provide an insight into McCorvey’s life and how she was used by politicians and civilians during and after the influential trial. McCorvey lived a complicated life and was constantly being pulled in different directions spiritually, politically, and personally. This thesis shows how McCorvey attempted to re-write the narrative of her life using written memoirs and a documentary. Outside sources will be used alongside the memoirs to explore how McCorvey was used as “Jane Roe” for many years after the trial ended.

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