“The Road Taken: Roe v. Wade”

by Donna Garner

1.20.13

This coming Tuesday, January 22, 2013, is the 40^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Today to commemorate the occasion, The Dallas Morning News has an article on the front page about Sarah Weddington, the attorney who “won” the Supreme Court case -- http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130119-for-sarah-weddington-the-lawyer-who-won-roe-vs.-wade-celebrity--or-notoriety--came-early.ece

I went to college with Sarah Ragle Weddington, and I remember her very well. It is strange how two people going to the same college could have ended up on two completely different paths: SARA RAGLE WEDDINGTON

	DONNA BURKE GARNER
Sarah graduated from McMurry College, Abilene, Texas, in 1963 with a teaching degree.	I graduated from McMurry College, Abilene, Texas, in 1963 with a teaching degree. I knew Sarah well and frequently disagreed with her liberal-left interpretations of Biblical principles and traditional values. Sarah was a rebel forty years ago even in a Christian college.
Sarah was the daughter of a Methodist minister.	i was the daughter of two sincere Christian parents who valued the sanctity of each person's life.
Sarah married Ron Weddington.	I married Wayne Garner, a student at McMurry College; and, God willing, we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary this coming summer.
Sarah went to law school, got pregnant, went to Piedras Negras to get an abortion because the baby was an "inconvenience." In a few years, she and Ron divorced. She never remarried nor had any more children. She lives alone.	My husband became a teacher and a coach for 36 years, and I became an English and Spanish teacher for 33 years. I taught for four years before having two sons and then stayed home with them for ten years until they both started into elementary school. During those ten years, we had one income, moved frequently with coaching changes, struggled financially, but managed to be active in churches, schools, and community activities wherever we lived.
Sarah received her law degree at the University of Texas and became involved with a group of feminist women who helped pregnant women get illegal abortions. Sarah filed a federal lawsuit against abortion; this was called Roe v. Wade.	Our children were a joy to us, and both of them graduated from high school and then from Texas A&M University. Both married Aggie wives; and we have five precious grandchildren, the oldest of whom will graduate from high school this May. The five grandchildren are strong students. Our two sons, their wives, and all five grandchildren have committed their lives to Christ.
Sarah and her law school friend Linda Coffee recruited Norma McCorvey who became "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade. After Sarah argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court, it ruled on Jan. 22, 1973, that abortion was legal.	I have spent my life rearing our children and grandchildren, teaching thousands of young people during my teaching career, and battling for strong academic standards in our schools.
Norma McCorvey has told her story on this website: http://www.endroe.org/roebio.aspx Norma has stated that Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee "were looking for somebody, anybody, to use to further their own agenda. I was their most willing dupe." Thankfully, Norma never had the abortion but put her baby up for adoption. In the last 15 years, Norma has become a Christian and is an outspoken pro-life leader who has dedicated herself to the sanctity-of-life movement.	I have researched, written, and published hundreds of pro-life, pro-family, and pro-abstinence-only articles. I regularly write commentaries on political, social, and education issues. Our family is deeply involved with sanctity-of-life organizations and political platforms that support traditional family values.
Sarah returned to Austin, ran for state representative, and teamed up with her friend, Ann Richards. Cecile Richards, Ann's teenage daughter, is now the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.	My husband and I have many friends from all over this country who are working hard to restore the Judeo-Christian values upon which America is built.
Sarah became President Jimmy Carter's White House adviser on women's issues.	I was appointed by President Reagan and re-appointed by President George H. Bush to the National Commission on Migrant Education.
Sarah returned to Austin and taught at U. T. for 25 years.	I was chosen by Gov. George W. Bush’s administration to help write the English / Language Arts/ Reading curriculum standards for Texas.
Sarah developed breast cancer (could be because of her earlier abortion – there is a well-documented link between abortion and breast cancer -- http://www.lifenews.com/2012/11/26/study-shows-abortion-linked-to-high-breast-cancer-risk/).	When I stopped teaching in the Texas public schools, I taught in three private Christian schools and then was the writer/researcher for Scott & White Worth the Wait, an abstinence-only curriculum based upon the medical and scientific data.
Sarah lives alone in an old house near the Texas Capitol.	My husband and I live together in a modest home in Central Texas where we have chosen to maintain a simple lifestyle, pay our bills, and not build up debt.
Sarah Weddington and Cecile Richards will meet the Lord some day and will have to try to justify the 55 Million abortions that have occurred in the United States since Roe v. Wade.	I long for the day when I will see the Lord and sit at His feet.
*Today The Dallas Morning News* published a front-page article on Sarah Weddington because of the 40-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade this coming Tuesday, Jan. 22.**	Our family will celebrate with pro-lifers the fact that an unborn baby is not "a piece of tissue" (as Norma McCorvey was told by Sarah Weddington) but instead is God's sacred creation. This Tuesday we in Texas will have special reason to celebrate the new pro-life laws that have been passed because of the courage of millions of pro-lifers, the leadership of Gov. Rick Perry, and the commitment of pro-life Legislators to protect life.

Please read “The Killing Fields of America” by Donna Garner published on December 12, 2006 and republished on 1.20.13 -- http://educationviews.org/the-killing-fields-of-america/

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Filed Under: Roe VS Wade 40th anniversary

Categories: Commentary