Roe v. Wade: was the rape claim used or influential in the case? [closed]

Question

Regarding the Roe v Wade case (please try to leave your opinions about abortion aside).

It is well known that Norma McCorvey ("Roe") lied about having been raped. It is also seems clear to me that the case verdict does not touch upon the issue (rape). What is less clear to me is whether the alleged rape was used in the arguments of the case, and to which amount one can suppose to have influenced the result.

For example, these two quotes from the lawyer (quotes not exceedingly reliable I'd say) seem conflicting:

“I never touched the issue of rape and only emphasized the question of whether the Constitution gives to the state or leaves to a woman the questions of what she can or must do with her body.” (ref)

 

"My behavior may not have been totally ethical, But I did it for what I thought were the right reasons."(ref)

The later has been quoted as implying that she was referring to the rape allegation, though the context does not help much.

Answer 1

It may have come up in argument in lower courts, but, at least by the time the question reached the supreme court, it seems to have been a negligible factor, if one at all. If you read the original decision of the court, the word 'Rape' only appears twice - both times in quotations of existing laws restricting abortion. Meanwhile, the subject was only broached briefly during the courts oral arguments - and never with respect to the specific case of Roe, but rather, again, to inquire as to the status of general exemptions to existing laws.

In general, Supreme Court cases and decisions are based upon questions of law, not of fact. So the allegation is largely irrelevant, especially given the specific legal finding of the court in Roe V. Wade, that the 5th amendment guarantees an implicit right to privacy, which in turn protects the right of a woman to have a medical procedure performed.