Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who as a 26-year-old successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe vs Wade before the US Supreme Court, has died.
She was 76.
Weddington had been in poor health for some time and it was not immediately clear what caused her death, Hays told The Associated Press.Raised as a minister's daughter in the West Texas city of Abilene, Weddington attended law school at the University of Texas. The case of "Jane Roe," whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was brought against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and eventually advanced to the Supreme Court.
Weddington's death comes as the Supreme Court is considering a case over Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that's widely considered to be most serious challenge in years to the Roe decision.While that case was before the court, Weddington also ran to represent Austin in the Texas House of Representatives.