Reverend rescues destitute 'Jane Roe'

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DALLAS -- Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff "Jane Roe" in the 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide, is destitute, unemployed and spends all of her time caring for her godmother and a long-time friend who is partially paralyzed.

"I've eaten so much spaghetti and prepared it so many different ways, I can hardly look at it anymore," Miss McCorvey told The Washington Times. "I don't know what's going to happen to us, but I still have faith."

She said that "outside of some bread and a few potatoes, we don't have anything left."

But within hours, things suddenly began to improve, greatly.

"When I came back from the Post Office Thursday," she said, "a man was sitting in his car in my driveway. When he saw me, he jumped out of his car and started opening doors and carrying in sacks and sacks of groceries.

"I never saw so many groceries all at one time," Miss McCorvey said. "He was sent from God."

The man had responded to a call for help Miss McCorvey had sent to a New York anti-abortion leader a week earlier. He had posted it on the Internet with her permission.

"I'm not ashamed of being hungry," said Miss McCorvey. Others have begun contacting her, sending money, visiting and praying.

Miss McCorvey, who after being baptized in 1995 declared her opposition to abortion, became a symbol for anti-abortionists and had made a living out of appearances and speeches, working with a group known as the Crossing Over Ministry.

But when her godmother became ill and her long-time friend Connie Gonzales lost movement after a stroke, she said, "I couldn't travel around the country -- just couldn't be gone that long."

She decided she would honor what speeches she had scheduled, then "look for the Lord to give us direction after that." Since November there has been no income.

Miss McCorvey credited her friend, Mrs. Gonzales, with saving her life in the late 1970s when she was homeless and living in a Dallas park.

"I was hungry," she explained, "and I went into a food market and stole a can of soup. She caught me but refused to call the police. Connie has seen me through so many changes. I can't leave her now."

The Rev. Flip Benham, the former leader of Operation Rescue who baptized Miss McCorvey, said he had lost contact with her during the past couple years and did not know of her plight.

"I have been far away from the situation," said Mr. Benham, who is now head of Operation Save America in Concord, N.C. "I don't know what God is doing with Miss Norma." He said he felt it "sad" that she had to make a public appeal for help.

Within hours of receiving Miss McCorvey's plea for aid, his organization sent representatives to the McCorvey home, with food and financial help.

Miss McCorvey said she realized the sudden outpouring might be a temporary thing and that she needed to find some kind of work she could do in her home.

"God takes care of those who love Him," she said. "Something will work out for us."