Both sides credit Roe with a revolution even as its practical effect stays contested.

Evidence

Though they agree on little else, both pro-life and pro-choice groups believe that Roe v. Wade inaugurated an abortion revolution. According to Justice Blackmun, who wrote the Court’s opinion in Roe, the aim was to secure “the fundamental constitutional right of women to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy.” Yet, given the questions raised about judicial policymaking capacity, did Roe in fact ensure that women could secure legal abortions? — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3157

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the book’s broader question of whether courts have the capacity to produce social change through policy pronouncements.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: rhetorical declarations of rights can exist without changing actual access to the practice they protect.