It was late in November of 1972. Roe v. Wade had been under consideration at the Supreme Court for a year, with release of the opinion now less than two months away. Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., one of Justice Harry A. Blackmun’s most steadfast allies throughout the decisional process, received a memo from one of his law clerks critiquing Blackmun’s most recent draft. “HAB has placed considerable emphasis on the role of the physician and the free exercise of his professional judgment,” the law clerk, Larry A. Hammond, wrote. . . .
