Sarah Weddington, the winning attorney in the historic U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, will deliver the School of Law’s 24th Edith House Lecture, entitled “Some Leaders Are Born Women.” The lecture will be held March 23 at 4:30 p.m. in the Chapel. It is open and free to the public.
An accomplished lawyer, author and women’s rights supporter, Weddington currently practices law in Austin, Texas, and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. A Question of Choice, her book detailing the Roe v. Wade case, became a bestseller, and she lectures regularly on abortion rights and women’s issues. In 1972, Weddington was the first woman from Austin elected to the Texas House of Representatives. At age 26, Weddington became the youngest woman ever to win a case in the U.S. Supreme Court when she won Roe v. Wade in 1973. In 1977, she was appointed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s general counsel and, in 1983, served as the director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations. She was the first woman to hold both of these positions as well. She also served as assistant to the president of the United States, directing the Carter administration’s work regarding national gender issues. Weddington’s leadership as a women’s rights advocate has continued into the 21st century, as she is a founding member of the Foundation for Women’s Resources as well as the creator of the Women’s Museum in Dallas.
The Edith House Lecture is hosted by the Women Law Students Association. House, a native of Winder, was co-valedictorian of the law class of 1925, the first class to graduate women.
