• About
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Meet our Donors
    • News
  • Issues
    • Safety
    • Opportunity
    • Reporting
    • Recognition
    • Equity
  • Programs
    • Reporting Fellowships
      • Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship
      • ¡Exprésate! LGBTQI+ Reporting Initiative
      • Gender Justice Reporting Initiative
      • Global Health Reporting Initiative
      • Round Earth Media
    • Grants & Funds
      • Fund For Women Journalists
      • Fund for Indigenous Journalists: Reporting on MMIWG2T
      • Kari Howard Fund for Narrative Journalism
      • Kim Wall Memorial Fund
      • Reproductive Rights Reporting Fund
      • Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice in the Americas
    • Physical & Digital Safety
      • Online Abuse and Harassment
      • Hostile Environment Training
      • Next Gen Safety Trainers
      • Women in Politics and Media
    • Mentorship & Professional Development
      • Gwen Ifill Mentorship Program
      • Fellowship Program for Afghan Women Journalists in Exile
    • Emergency Assistance
      • Emergency Fund for Women Journalists
      • Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund
      • Alex Duval Smith Memorial Fund
    • Past Programs
  • Reporting
  • Community
  • Awards
    • Anja Niedringhaus Award
    • Courage in Journalism Award
    • Gwen Ifill Award
    • Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award
  • Resources
    • Self Care & Trauma
    • Research
    • Impact Reports
    • Webinars
  • Search
Search Donate
Reporting

Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade Season 7: Episode 4

June 22, 2022 | Samira Tazari & Susan Matthews | Slate

Roe Against Wade

How Justice Harry Blackmun became an accidental abortion rights hero.

 

Episode Notes

Harry Blackmun wasn’t Richard Nixon’s first choice to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. But after Blackmun was confirmed, he got the assignment of a lifetime: writing the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade. His approach to that case would have consequences he never imagined.

Season 7 of Slow Burn is produced by Susan Matthews, Samira Tazari, Sophie Summergrad, and Sol Werthan.

Derek John is Sr. Supervising Producer of Narrative Podcasts.

Editorial direction by Josh Levin, Derek John, and Johanna Zorn. Merritt Jacob is our Technical Director.

Our theme music is composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Artwork by Derreck Johnson based on a photo provided by Robert Wheeler.

The season’s reporting was supported by a grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.

Sources for This Episode:

Books:

Faux, Marian. Roe v. Wade: The Untold Story of the Landmark Supreme Court Decision that Made Abortion Legal, Scribner, 1988.

Garrow, David J. Liberty & Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade, Lisa Drew Books, 1994.

Gorney, Cynthia. Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars, Simon & Schuster, 1998.

Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun’s Supreme Court Journey, Times Books Henry Holt & Company, LLC, 2005.

Hull, N. E. H. and Peter Charles Hoffer, Roe v. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History, University Press of Kansas, 2021.

Jeffries Jr., John C. Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Scribner, 1994.

Robenalt, James. January 1973: Watergate, Roe v. Wade, Vietnam, and the Month That Changed America Forever, Chicago Review Press, 2015.

Weddington, Sarah Ragle. A Question of Choice: By the Lawyer Who Won Roe v. Wade, Penguin Books, 1992.

Ziegler, Mary. Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present, Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Articles:

Chotiner, Isaac. “The Buried Promise of the Reconstruction Amendments,” the New Yorker, Sept. 9, 2019.

Ely, John Hart. “The Wages of Crying Wolf: A Comment on Roe v. Wade,” the Yale Law Journal, Vol. 82, No. 5 (April 1973), pp. 920-49.

Gallup, George. “Abortions Seen Up to Woman, Doctor,” Washington Post, Aug. 25, 1972.

Gorney, Cynthia. “Justice Blackmun, Off the Record,” New York Times, March 7, 1999.

Graham, Fred P. “The Court: Not Made to Be a Political Football,” New York Times, April 12, 1970.

Greenhouse, Linda. “How a Ruling on Abortion Took On a Life of Its Own,” New York Times, April 10, 1994.

Greenhouse, Linda. “Justice Blackmun, Author of Abortion Right, Dies,” New York Times, March 5, 1999.

Greenhouse, Linda. “Justice Blackmun’s Journey: From Moderate to a Liberal,” New York Times, April 7, 1994.

Haridasani Gupta, Alisha. “​​Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wasn’t All That Fond of Roe v. Wade,” New York Times, Sept. 21, 2020.

Lewis, Finlay. “Terms of Estrangement,” Washington Post, July 9, 1995.

Lithwick, Dahlia. “RBG’s Prophetic Warning on Roe v. Wade Went Ignored,” Slate, Sept. 22, 2020.

Prager, Joshua. “The Accidental Activist,” Vanity Fair, February 2013.

Robenalt, James D. “The unknown Supreme Court clerk who single-handedly created the Roe v. Wade viability standard,” Washington Post, Nov. 29, 2019.

Seelye, Katharine Q. “Sarah Weddington, Who Successfully Argued Roe v. Wade, Dies at 76,” New York Times, Dec. 27, 2021.

“The Nation: Nixon’s Court: Its Making and Its Meaning,” Time, Nov. 1, 1971.

Weaver Jr., Warren. “Blackmun Approved, 94‐0; Nixon Hails Vote by Senate,” New York Times, May 13, 1970.

“White House Sees No Delay on Court,” New York Times, Oct. 20, 1971.

Opinions:

Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973).

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).

Audiovisual:

Harry A. Blackmun Papers, 1913-2001. Library of Congress.

Roe v. Wade oral arguments, Oyez.

Doe v. Bolton oral arguments, Oyez.

About the Authors

Samira Tazari

Samira Tazari is a Brooklyn-based independent podcast producer with experience in oral history, sound design and podcast production. She's worked on podcast series for Slate, Spotify, Radiotopia and Audible and… Read More.


Susan Matthews

Susan Matthews is Slate’s executive editor. During her time at the magazine, she has served as features editor and news director, and has overseen the science and jurisprudence sections. Her… Read More.

Original Publication
Slate
Related Topics
Health
Politics
Social Justice
Women's Rights
More From These Authors
Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade Season 7: Episode 3
Susan Matthews, Samira Tazari
Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade Season 7: Episode 2
Susan Matthews, Samira Tazari
The Forgotten Story of Shirley Wheeler
Susan Matthews, Samira Tazari

Sign Up For Our Mailing List

Mission

We unleash the potential of women journalists as champions of press freedom to transform the global news media.

Address

1625 K Street NW, Suite 1275
Washington, DC 20006
Please mail checks to:
ATTN: Adena Martin
PO BOX 374 Clinton, MD 20735-9997, USA

Contact Us

info@iwmf.org
(+1) 202-496-1992

Connect
Privacy Terms of Service

Copyright © 2023 International Women's Media Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Nonprofit Web Design by NMC.