ABSTRACT
When Roe v. Wade, from Texas, and Doe v. Bolton, from Georgia, were originally scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court in 1971, there were only seven justices on the court. For reasons of failing health, two justices had retired in September of that year. As a result, Chief Justice Burger set up a committee to screen cases and recommend which were controversial enough to be postponed until a full nine-member court could be convened, and which could move forward easily with only seven justices participating. Having heard mainly from broad-based, wellorganized constituencies favoring liberalized abortion laws, and having been influenced by the searing impact of the Thalidomide tragedies and widespread birth defects resulting from the rubella pandemic, the initial thinking was that the abortion cases could be quietly decided on narrow grounds.
