Editing Roe v. Wade (section)

==== Harry Blackmun ====
Justice Blackmun, who authored the ''Roe'' decision, subsequently had mixed feelings about his role in the case. During a 1974 television interview, he stated that ''Roe'' "will be regarded as one of the worst mistakes in the court's history or one of its great decisions, a turning point."<ref name=scsentinel>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19830116.1.65&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 Legalized abortion a decade later], ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', Volume 127, Number 13, January 16, 1983
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In a 1983 interview for a newspaper journalist, he responded that he was "mildly annoyed at those, law professors included, who personalize it" because "it was a decision of the court, not my decision. There were seven votes." As a Methodist, he felt hurt that Methodist pastors wrote condemning letters to him, but as time passed, the letters did not hurt "as much anymore". In defense he responded, "People misunderstand. I am not for abortion. I hope my family never has to face such a decision", noting that "I still think it was a correct decision" because "we were deciding a constitutional issue, not a moral one."<ref name=nytimes1983>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/18/us/blackmun-accepts-aftermath-of-writing-abortion-opinion.html|title=Blackmun Accepts Aftermath of Writing Abortion Opinion|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 18, 1983|page=A20}}</ref> He described ''Roe'' as "a no-win case" and predicted that, "fifty years from now, depending on the fate of the proposed constitutional amendment, abortion probably will not be as great a legal issue. I think it will continue to be a moral issue, however."<ref name=scsentinel/>
He reflected that his role in the decision meant he was most known as the "author of the abortion decision". His response was that "we all pick up tags. I'll carry this one to my grave" and "so be it".<ref name=nytimes1983/>

In 1987, Justice Blackmun explained in a letter to Chief Justice Rehnquist:<ref name=forsythe18>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2013|p=18}}</ref>
<blockquote>I remember that the old Chief appointed a screening committee, chaired by Potter, to select those cases that could (it was assumed) be adequately heard by a Court of seven. I was on that little committee. We did not do a good job. Potter pressed for ''Roe v. Wade'' and ''Doe v. Bolton'' to be heard and did so in the misapprehension that they involved nothing more than an application of ''Younger v. Harris''. How wrong we were.</blockquote>

In 1991, he regretted how the Court decided to hear ''Roe'' and ''Doe'' in a televised interview: "It was a serious mistake{{nbsp}}... We did a poor job. I think the committee should have deferred them until we had a full Court."<ref name=forsythe19>{{harvnb|Forsythe|2013|p=19}}</ref>

In 1992, he stood by the analytical framework he established in ''Roe'' during the subsequent ''Casey'' case.<ref name=Blackmun>''Casey'', 505 U.S. at 930–34 (Blackmun, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) ("In sum, ''Roe''<nowiki/>'s requirement of strict scrutiny as implemented through a trimester framework should not be disturbed.").</ref> He often gave speeches and lectures promoting ''Roe v. Wade'' and criticizing ''Roe''{{'}}s critics.{{sfnp|Greenhouse|2005|pp=183–206, 250}}