Sarah Weddington, the young Texas lawyer whose successful arguments before the Supreme Court in the landmark Roe v. Wade case led to the legalization of abortion throughout the United States, died at her home in Austin.
Ms. Weddington was 26 and had never tried a legal case when she and Linda Coffee, her co-counsel, went before the Supreme Court in 1971.
The legal battle culminated on Jan. 22, 1973, when the court ruled that a Texas state law banning abortions except to save the woman’s life was unconstitutional.
While waiting in 1972 for the Supreme Court to hand down its decision in Roe v. Wade, Ms. Weddington ran for and won a seat in the Texas House.
A 1975 article in Texas Monthly said that Ms. Weddington might be “the hardest-working member of the House” and named her one of the 10 best legislators in the state.sectetur adipiscing elit.