Roe V Wade

Roe, a Texas resident, sought to stop her pregnancy by abortion. Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the pregnant woman's life.The first time, Roe's attorney -- Sarah Weddington -- could not locate the constitutional hook of her argument for Justice Potter Stewart.

The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy (recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman total control over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters. As a result, the laws of 46 states were affected by the Court's ruling.

Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)

In January of 1985 a group of students wanted to start a Bible Study club.Whenthey went to thier school principle he rejected thier request. the princple said that it was a violation of the 1st Ammendment and therefore violated the Establishment Cluase , Which requires seperation of church and state activitys.Bridget Mergans was the student who had came up with this whole idea she talked to her Lawyer Douglas Veith,and he agreed that this was wrong because of The federal Equal Access Act passed in 1984, The school has created a limited open forum by allowing other non-curiculm clubs to meet,Therefore the bible study club should be allowed.


The OutCome

Bridget took her case to court. After five years and two appeals, the case was heard by the Supreme Court in 1990. The Court ruled 8-1 in Bridget’s favor, meaning that they had approved of the Equal Access Act. As a result we are now allowed to have a bible study club and other clubs in school uner a few conditions...

-The group must be student-initiated.

-The group must be student-sponsored and student-led.

-"During non-instructional time"

-Participation in the group must be voluntary.

And only applys to...

-Be a public secondary school;

-Receive federal financial assistance;

-Have designated certain facilities as a "limited open forum."

The Equal Access Act (" EAA") requires public schools which meet certain criteria to treat all student-initiated groups equally, regardless of the religious, political philosophical or other orientation of t
he groups. This means that to the extent that a school board opens up its school facilities to any student-led and run non-curriculum related group, it must uniformly open its facilities to all student-led and run groups, including religious ones. The EAA was adopted by Congress in 1984, and its constitutionality was upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court in Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens,