I Am Roe: My Life, Roe V. Wade, and Freedom of Choice

McCorvey, the pseudonymous plaintiff in the landmark 1973 case legalizing abortion, here candidly chronicles a rough life of struggle and survival. She was sent to a reform school in Texas, was raped by a male relative and, at 16, married an abuser. Pregnant and divorced, she found a home in Dallas's lesbian and gay subculture. She bore a daughter, whose custody was taken over by her mother, and gave up another baby for adoption. In 1970, age 21, pregnant and not wanting another child, she sought an abortion, claiming falsely that she had been raped. She met lawyer Sarah Weddington, who was looking for a pregnant woman to become plaintiff in a case challenging Texas anti-abortion laws. The suit dragged on, and McCorvey delivered a baby that she gave up for adoption. Drunk and suicidal, she was caught shoplifting by the manager of a food store who became her lover and helped her rebuild her life. McCorvey came out as a lesbian in 1989 and now has a business cleaning buildings. The Supreme Court eventually ruled for Roe in 1973. With the help of freelancer Meisler, McCorvey offers a direct, unsentimental and often harsh account of a real life at the heart of historical events. Author tour. (June)