Weddington, Sarah Ragle (1945-)

Sarah Ragle Weddington, lawyer, speaker, educator, and writer, was born in Abilene, Texas, on February 5, 1945, the daughter of Herbert Doyle and Lena Catherine Ragle. Weddington graduated magna cum laude from McMurry University in 1965; she received her J.D. from the University of Texas in 1967. She is most famous for her role as the plaintiff's counsel in the landmark case Roe v. Wade. In 1973 the suit successfully overturned antiabortion statutes in Texas and made abortion legal throughout the United States. She argued the case at the age of 26, only a few years out of law school.

In 1972 she became the first woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives from Austin, Travis County. She served three terms. Throughout her terms in ...