To me, that's like no, sorry, not playing that game with you. Heres my chance at finding out who my birth mother was, she said, and I wasnt even going to be able to have control over it because I was being thrown into the Enquirer.. Shelley felt stuck. There are 18 states that have near-total bans on their books, while four more have time-limit band and four others are likely to pass new bans if Roe v. Wade is overturned, Republican appointed-JusticesClarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all voted to strike down Roe with Samuel Alito, Politico noted. The tabloid agreed, once more, to protect Shelleys identity. In response, a journalist for the National Enquirer found Thornton as a teenager and told her about her prenatal history, which made her sad. She charged clients $1,500 for a typical search, twice that if there was little information to go on. She gave a second child up for adoption, but when she got pregnant a third time she decided to have an abortion. Some 20 years had passed since Norma had conceived her third child, yet she had begun searching for that child only a few weeks after retaining a prominent lawyer. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By 1989when Norma went public with her hope to find her daughterHanft had found more than 600 adoptees and misidentified none. The publication had thendescribed her as pro-life because she had told the journalist 'she couldn't see herself having an abortion. Wow! Shelley found herself wondering not only about her birth parents but also about the two older half sisters her mother had told her she had. Shelley Lynn Thornton, 51, the woman whose conception led to the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case, has revealed herself publicly for the first time as the "Roe baby.". She threw it down and ran out of the room, Hanft later recalled. Unfortunately, she said, your birth mother is Jane Roe., That name Shelley recognized. They asked the Enquirer not to reveal Thornton's identity and the magazine respected her wishes. Roe was 'Jane Roe,' a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey, a single mother pregnant for the third time, who wanted an abortion. For example, states could decide whether abortions were allowed only during the first and second trimester but not the third (typically beyond 28 weeks). Thornton's reaction was "What! Baby Whose Conception Inspired Roe V Wade Finally Identified - Insider When Shelley returned, she was shaking all over and crying.. Moreover, the freedom of choice was considered a significant step in the equality fight for women in the country. McCluskey, the adoption lawyer, was dead, but Norma herself provided Hanft with enough information to start her search: the gender of the child, along with her date and place of birth. Identity of 'Roe baby' revealed after decades of secrecy 'Roe Baby' Speaks Out For The First Time Amid Renewed Abortion Debate She was a producer for the tabloid TV show A Current Affair. resigns from Google and says he regets Pictured: British grandfather and 'friend to everybody' who died while snorkelling during dream cruise Baby in India is born with a third ARM growing from its back in rare phenomenon. I'm supposed to thank you for getting knocked up and then giving me away?" "In his majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun noted that a 'pregnancy will come to term before the usual appellate process is complete,'" Prager writes. Hanft paid them to scan microfiche birth records for the asterisks that might denote an adoption. This story has been shared 411,273 times. Her conception, in 1969, led to the lawsuit that ultimately produced Roe v. Wade. McCorvey became a leading, outspoken pro-abortion voice in American discourse, even working at a women's clinic where abortions were performed. I can't deal with lies and treachery and things like that. She sued the Dallas attorney general Henry Wade over a Texas law that made it a crime to terminate a pregnancy except in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life was in danger. 'Roe Baby' At Center Of Landmark Abortion Case Is Identified For 1st Shelley gave birth to two daughters, in 1999 and 2000, and moved with her family to Tucson, where Doug had a new job. Shelley was afraid to answer. Shelley Lynn Thornton is seen here during an exclusive interview with ABC News. Republicans could try to enact a nationwide abortion ban, while Democrats could also seek to protect abortion rights at the national level. The 1973 Supreme Court ruling made abortion a federally protected right. It had helped him with women, too. Thornton spent the first 19 years of her life without knowing McCorvey was her birth mother. Twenty-six states are likely to ban it if Roe v. Wade is formally overturned, essentially outlawing abortion in more than half of the country. In her book, she recounted stealing money at the age of 10 from the gas station where she worked afternoons and weekends and running away to Oklahoma City before being returned home by police. This year, eight conservative states have already moved to restrict abortion rights. She decided to have the child, but didn't understand why the abortion decision should be "a government concern. The next year, she had a boyfriend. She didnt deserve to meet me, Thornton told ABC News of McCorvey for the interview, which aired Monday. This nineteen-year-old womans life was saved by that Texas law, a spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee said at the time. 'She didn't deserve to meet me,' Thornton said. But a hole in Tobys life had been filled. Seeing double! 'It became apparent to me really quickly that the only reason why she wanted to reach out to me and find me was because she wanted to use me for publicity. To speak of it even in private was to risk it spilling into public view. Chavez took careful notes. An investigation by the National Enquirer led to Thornton being found as a teen living outside Seattle and the publication informed her that she was McCorvey's biological daughter. Im glad to know that my birth mother is alive, she was quoted in the story as saying, and that she loves mebut Im really not ready to see her. Shelly Thornton lives in Troy, MI; previous cities include Clinton Township MI and Sterling Heights MI. I visited Connie the following year, then returned a second time. I could rock a pair of Jordache, she said. She became instead, with the help of McCluskey, the only child of a woman in Dallas named Ruth Schmidt and her eventual husband, Billy Thornton. She listened as Hanft began to tell what she knew of her birth mother: that she lived in Texas, that she was in touch with the eldest of her three daughters, and that her name was Norma McCorvey. I was like, What?! I want her to experience this joythe good that it brings, she told me. So, yeah, Im 100% behind her.. "Norma's personal life was complex. Norma told her little except his first nameBilland what he looked like. The comments below have not been moderated. Thornton's identity has been unknown to the public for more than 50 years. When the Enquirer had tracked her down, Thornton's adoptive mom, Schmidt, told the journalist 'we don't believe in abortion,' she said. 'And that's really hard to grasp when you're in that kind of a situation and you're just kind of like learning all of this stuff,' she said. Her name has not been publicly known until now: Shelley Lynn Thornton. Thats what Id say.'. Also referred to by the pseudonym "Roe Baby", Thornton is the child at the center of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade. Genealogy for Shelley Lynn Thornton (McCorvey) family tree on Geni, with over 245 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. [3], In 2021, Thornton's identity as the "Roe baby" was released in Joshua Prager's book, The Family Roe: An American Story. To come out as the Roe baby would be to lose the life, steady and unremarkable, that she craved. Eighteen states already have restrictive abortion laws in place. She graduated from Highline High School in 1988 and entered secretarial school. The Enquirer published an article in 1989 revealing the so-called 'Roe baby' had been found but, at her request, did not reveal Thornton's identity. Shelley Lynn Thornton, Roe v. Wade Baby: 5 Fast Facts | Heavy.com Norma was ambivalent about abortion. She was 20. If Roe was overturned, he went on, countless others would be saved too. Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. McCluskey had introduced Norma to the attorney who initially filed the Roe lawsuit and who had been seeking a plaintiff. Shelley Lynn Thornton, now a 51-year-old woman, revealed her name and spoke to the press on-the-record for the first time in an excerpt of the upcoming book "The Family Roe: An American. We have a lot of similarities. It now seemed to her that abortion law ought to be free of the influences of religion and politics. In a 2020 documentary AKA Jane Roe, McCorvey claimed she had been paid by anti-abortion activists to switch sides. Thornton was two-and-a-half when Roe v Wade was decided. She knew only, she explained, that she wanted to one day find a partner who would stay with her always. Or is it not cool? When she told Doug about her connection to Roe, he set her at ease: He was just like, Oh, cool. At her sentencing in U.S. District Court in 1995, the . A phone call was arranged. Shelley Lynn Thorton is the biological child of Jane Roe from the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade SCOTUS case. Shelley Lynn Thornton, 51, the woman whose conception led to the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case, has revealed herself publicly for the first time as the "Roe baby." Create your free. The Enquirer, she said, could help. Shelley Lynn Thornton was two-and-a-half years old when the Roe v. Wade ruling was issued. Instead, I called her adoptive mother, Ruth, who said that the family had learned about Norma. And as I discovered while writing a book about Roe, the childs identity had been known to just one personan attorney in Dallas named Henry McCluskey. I dont really talk about that just because Im not going to let either side use me for their advantage, she said, adding that activists can find someone else.. Its settled law in the nation., Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images. [3], Thornton married her boyfriend, Doug, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in March 1991; they had a son later that year. Shelley Lynn Thornton (born June 2, 1970) is the biological daughter of Norma McCorvey. And from their first date, at a Taco Bell, Shelley found that she could be open with him. However, pro-lifers contended it was tantamount to murder and that every life, no matter how it was conceived, is precious. I want to hold you now and give you my love, but Im still upset about the fact that I couldnt abort you? But speaking to her daughter for the first time, Norma didnt mention abortion. Ruth loved being a motherplaying the tooth fairy, outfitting Shelley in dresses, putting her hair into pigtails. Baby Roe: Shelley Lynn Thornton, a 51-year-old mother of three, has spoken out for the first time on camera. Roe v Wade baby breaks her silence: 'I was just a pawn' - Yahoo News She died in 2017 without ever meeting Shelley in person. When the Roe case was decided, in 1973, the adoptive parents were oblivious of its connection to their daughter, now 2 and a half, a toddler partial to spaghetti and pork chops and Cheez Whiz casserole. Oklahoma, for example, passed several bills in recent weeks, including one that goes into effect this summer making it a felony to perform an abortion. Fitz had been born into medicine. But it would not kill the story. You aint never seen a happier woman, Billy recalled. Their lives resist the tidy narratives told on both sides of the abortion divide. Two days earlier, Shelley had been a typical teenager on the brink of another summer. When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. EXCLUSIVE Revealed: Bungling road chiefs put drivers at greater risk on smart motorways because orange paint Trendy hard floors could be to blame for your foot pain (and there is a simple way to stop it), Scientists discover what happens seconds after you die - activity in the brain and heart RAMPS UP, Scientists can now read your MIND: AI turns people's thoughts into text in real-time. The story quoted Hanft. When tenants in the complex moved out, he took her with him to rummage through whatever they had left behinddolls and books and things like that, Shelley recalled. She began to cry. She helped him scissor through reams of construction paper and cooled his every bowl of Campbells chicken soup with two ice cubes. She married at the age of 16, but separated shortly after while she was pregnant. Shelley and Doug moved up their wedding date. Controversial NHS Tavistock transgender clinic is threatened with court action by watchdog after failing to 'If I didn't build it, somebody else would've': The Godfather of A.I. [3] Thornton met her biological half-sisters, McCorvey's two other daughters, in March 2013. Hanft normally telephoned the adoptees she found. She decided to try to patch things up. The child was not identified but was said to be pro-life and living in Washington State. Shelley asked why. The Supreme Courthas voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion in the United States. At Normas urging, her own mother, Mary, had adopted the girl (though Norma later claimed that Mary had kidnapped her). Two days later, Shelley and Ruth drove to Seattles Space Needle, to dine high above the city with Hanft and her associate, a mustachioed man named Reggie Fitz. It was a game. Shelley Lynn Thornton, 51, the daughter of Norma McCorvey (below) and the woman whose conception led to the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case, has revealed herself publicly for the first time as the "Roe baby."