The anonymous litigant behind a landmark ruling can become a political symbol.

Evidence

McCorvey’s disclosure that she was “Jane Roe” thrust her into the spotlight, and she became involved politically, speaking at pro-choice rallies and working as marketing director at an abortion clinic in Dallas. Then, in 1995, she had a change of heart. She quit her job at the clinic and was baptized by Reverend Flip Benham, national director of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. In a radio interview after the conversion, she declared, “I’m pro-life. | think | have always been pro-life, | just didn’t know it.” In 1998, she joined the Catholic Church and until her death in 2017 was involved in pro-life activities with the website “The Roe No More Ministry.” — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3098

Categorization

• XREF: Links to broader claims about interest groups and litigation strategy: litigants become figureheads for movements they may only loosely control.