The Rhetoric of Roe v. Wade: When the (Male) Doctor Knows Best

Abstract

An examination of the rhetoric of the Court's majority opinion in Roe v. Wade shows that, in contrast to the public meaning of Roe's ruling as a second wave feminist victory, Roe's rhetoric denied women agency and undermined their judgments and their voices. This study demonstrates how the community of meaning endorsed through Roe's rhetoric—specifically the rhetorical constructs of the “doctor knows best” and the “woman-as-patient”—advanced traditional ideas about women and provided a host of warrants for future judges and legislatures to limit women's reproductive rights. Ultimately, this study informs our understandings of the contemporary abortion rights struggle, the role of the Supreme Court as a rhetorical institution, and the rhetorical history of gender and sex politics in the United States.