Imagine you are a 17 year old girl who has just become pregnant... from rape. Do you really think that this minor, who has already suffered so much trauma, would want to have her rapist's child? Pregnancy is one of the most exciting things that could happen to a woman, but this excitement can be taken away if the baby wasn't something planned. A woman should have the right to choose whether or not to keep the baby. That's what Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun believed in Roe v. Wade, in which the Supreme Court ruled that restrictive state abortion laws are unconstitutional. Harry A. Blackmun was one of the court's most liberal justices who argued and won Roe v. Wade through his passion for his beliefs and his personal education. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay McCorvey was born on November 12, 1908 in Nashville, Illinois. He had a younger sister born in 1917 and a brother who died at a young age. Blackmun grew up in Dayton's Bluff, a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in mathematics in 1929. While at Harvard, Blackmun joined a fraternity and sang with the Harvard Glee Club. While in the Glee Club, she performed for President Herbert Hoover, which was the first Blackmun's visit to Washington. He attended Harvard Law School, graduating with a law degree in 1932. He held a variety of positions including private counsel, law clerk, and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and William Mitchell College of Law. Blackmun practiced law at the law firm now known as Dorsey & Whitney, focused in its early years on tax, trusts, estates and civil litigation. He married Dorothy Clark in 1941 and had three daughters, Nancy, Sally and Susan. Before pursuing law, Blackmun wanted to become a doctor. From 1950 to 1959, motivated by his initial passion for medicine, Blackmun served as a general counsel at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He would later describe his time at Mayo as "his happiest time". He pursued his legal career because he wanted a "stable career". His time at the clinic caught the attention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower to replace Sanborn's seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1959. The eight circuits included states such as Arkansas, Nebraska and Missouri. That's why it made sense that Blackmun started with a conservative point of view on the field. His views on the court ranged from taxation to discrimination of citizens and prisoners. It was clear from his decisions in court that he was interested in tweaking the main law of the country: the constitution. On April 14, 1970, Blackmun was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Nixon. His nomination was approved unanimously. Since Blackmun was new, he was initially silent about his opinions as he tried to create a voice for himself. He often voted in agreement with Chief Justice Burger. As his time at court passed, he began to become more liberal in his beliefs. As Blackmun became more independent, his friendship with Chief Justice Burger waned. The two were once called the Minnesota Twins; but Blackmun eventually became frustrated with Burger's style of running the Court. While others on the court focused more on the hypothetical, Blackmun's view on legal decision-making was practical and realistic. Blackmun felt empathy for the citizens who would be affected by the decisions.