Shelley felt herself flush, and turned Lavin away. I guess I dont understand why its a government concern, she told Prager, saying she thought any abortion laws should not be influenced by religion and politics. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. At her sentencing in U.S. District Court in 1995, the . She gave custody of her daughter to her mother. Duchess of Buccleuch dies aged 68 after 'short illness' following operation, her family reveal - just days Charles' Gladiator! She had recently happened upon Holly Hunter playing Jane Roe in a TV movie. She was 2 years old by the time the Roe v. Wade ruling came down and living with her adoptive parents in Texas, and her existence itself became a symbol to anti-abortion activists. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. She told me the next month, when we met for the first time on a rainy day in Tucson, Arizona, that she also wished to be unburdened of her secret. ', Shelley Thornton (pictured during childhood) knew she was adopted but didn't know who her birth mother was until 1989 when she was contacted by reporters from The National Enquirer. Hanft stepped out, introduced herself, and told Shelley that she was an adoption investigator sent by her birth mother. McCorvey began searching for Thornton in 1989, appearing on the "TODAY" show expressing her hope to find her third child. Wow! McCorveywas baptized an evangelical Christian in the 1990s before network TV cameras by Benham, who was the leader of Operation Rescue, now known as Operation Save America, Norma McCorveystands with her friend Meredith Champion, 9, at an Operation Rescue rally in downtown Dallas in January 1997. You know how she can be mean and nasty and totally go off on people? Shelley asked, speaking of Norma. Identity of 'Roe baby' revealed after decades of secrecy It was like, Oh God! Shelley said. The next day, flowers arrived with a note. She never expressed genuine feeling for me or genuine remorse for doing the things that she did, saying the things that she did over and over and over again. Shelley Lynn Thornton was two-and-a-half years old when the Roe v. Wade ruling was issued. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, she remained an ardent supporter of abortion rights and worked for a time at a Dallas women's clinic where abortions were performed. 'I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say. US tech billionaire's Matt Baszucki found the low-carb/high fat Could a hormone spray reignite your love life? PRAGER: So her name is Shelley Lynn Thornton. [2] Thornton also learned about her two older half-sisters from McCorvey, Melissa and Jennifer.