sarah weddington was working actually at a time for an abortion referral network where they would fly people from, texas to california. we're governor ronald reagan had signed into law the most liberal law amazingly enough liberalizing abortion. you can have an abortion through 20 weeks and it was open also to non-residents of california, but she can't afford that and she can't afford the clinic she texas it's $500 and she's distraught her adoption attorney then says hey guess what? i just remembered. i went to law school with someone named linda coffee a brilliant lawyer was helped me. he says fight the sodomy laws in, texas. and she's looking to challenge the abortion laws here in texas. i don't know if that'll mean you can have an abortion, but let me introduce you he does incidentally. linda coffee the lawyer henry mccluskey and norma were all gay and that's not a coincidence. there was a great overlap in the fights for sort of women's rights and also sort of gay rights at the time. well one of the sort of thrilling things for me about stumbling upon norma. she was the perfect sor

. >> she ends up getting connected to these two young attorneys, linda coffey and sarah weddington. >on, but she could help other women to do so if she became their plaintiff, if she decided to proceed. >> mrs. weddington, you may proceed whenever you're ready. >> a pregnancy to a woman is perhaps one of the most determinative aspects of her life. >> she did not initially set out to become a plaintiff in a case that would become one of the most important cases in the 20th century. while the supreme court in roe v. wade held that women had a constitutional right to access abortion, the decision came too late for norma mccorvey to access her wanted abortion. >> when the decision came down, there was opposition brewing. but we didn't really see the flashpoint and divisive political debate that we see today. >> let your baby live! >> if a woman does not want to have a pregnancy, she will find a way to end it, whether it's legal or illegal. >> the conservative movement in the '80s really latched on to abortion as an issue that they saw would give them energy in their base. that's when they

sarah weddington was someone who did believe in choice, but was someone who also worked with other groups like republican majority for choice and others to advance the rights of women. she was a women's right activist. however someone may feel about the court's decision, she represented her client jane roe and fought the case. but she did not think that she would win it, because it did not meet the standard of what she thought would be a win and supreme court. sarah died last december, and the gist of our conversations of which there were a few was that there were some things that in time may be relevant to speak on. this is the first time i have told that, there were others there with me that are probably watching now, because i remember that dinner and evening when this first began, and i think that people need that context of understanding that it goes along with ruth bader ginsburg and what she said about being improperly decided what others have said. spin on that it's really interesting. i know that you are kind of leaning in a few moments ago saying i want to share this now, becaus