Norma McCorvey, Plaintiff Of Roe v. Wade Decision For Abortion, Dies At 69

Norma McCorvey, left, Jane Roe in the 1973 court case, and her attorney Gloria Allred hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. after sitting in while the court listened to arguments in a Missouri abortion case. Months later, the high court ultimately upheld the Missouri law in the case, Webster v. Reproductive Health Service, making it illegal to use public officials or facilities for abortions. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court's historic 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, has died at age 69.

Washington Post reports that journalist Joshua Prager, who is working on a book about the trial, confirmed McCorvey's death.

McCorvey, who went by the pseudonym Jane Roe for the trial to protect her privacy, filed suit to safely terminate a pregnancy in 1970. Texas - where she lived - and other states prohibited abortions at the time, unless they were necessary to save the mother's life.

The Supreme Court's 7-2 ruling stated an abortion as a constitutional right to privacy, using the trimester framework of pregnancy to determine that a woman could undergo an abortion any time during her fist trimester. McCorvey became a figurehead for abortion rights, and the trial is considered one of the Supreme Court's most important rulings over the last 40 years.

Over the years, McCorvey would become more controversial. She later reversed her stance on abortion after becoming a born-again Christian, and she also recanted her previous statement that the pregnancy in the Roe v. Wade trial came from a rape. Anti-abortion advocates have used such changes to fight the argument.

Still, the trial is still seen as the landmark for abortion rights.