Who was Norma McCorvey, the woman at the center of Roe v. Wade?

Published July 21, 2022 at 4:00 AM EDT

FILE - Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe in the 1973 court case, left, and her attorney Gloria Allred hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington after sitting in while the court listened to arguments in a Missouri abortion case, April 26, 1989. A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision suggests the country's highest court could be poised to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, allowing individual states to more heavily regulate or even ban the procedure. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) — Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe in the 1973 court case, left, and her attorney Gloria Allred hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington after sitting in while the court listened to arguments in a Missouri abortion case, April 26, 1989.

The woman known as Jane Roe in the landmark case Roe v. Wade didn’t live to see the ruling overturned. But throughout her life she had complicated views on abortion. Journalist and author Joshua Prager spent hundreds of hours interviewing Norma McCorvey. He describes her as an imperfect plaintiff. His conversations with McCorvey are part of his new book The Family Roe: An American Story.

Joshua Prager joins Cincinnati Edition to discuss what Norma McCorvey’s life can tell us about our times.

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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