When a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they are going to have the last word

McCorvey was represented by two women, [[Sarah Weddington]] and [[Linda Coffee]]. Weddington was 26 years old when she argued before the Supreme Court in ''Roe''.{{sfn|Prager|2021|p=90}} She had been one of five women in her graduating class of 250 at [[University of Texas Law School]] two years prior.{{sfn|Hanauer|1989}} Only seven women had spoken before the court in the preceding twelve months; there was no women's restroom in the lawyers' lounge.{{sfn|Prager|2021|p=91}} According to court artist Betty Wells and Justice [[Harry Blackmun]], Weddington looked attractive.{{harvnb|Prager|2021|pp=90-91}}. "So as to better recall the argument of every lawyer come before him, the justice jotted a quick physical description of him or her. As Weddington began now to speak ... [w]rote Blackmun: 'large blond hair, rather pretty, plump.{{' "}} Coffee sat beside her at the table for petitioners' counsel. A number of abortion rights advocates sat in the audience.{{sfn|Prager|2021|p=91}} As counselor for the petitioner, Weddington spoke first. She spoke with an argument style that Mairi N. Morrison in the ''[[UCLA Women's Law Journal]]'' described as "classically female and extraordinarily effective".{{sfn|Morrison|1995|loc=p. [https://escholarship.org/content/qt1zs4h3nz/qt1zs4h3nz.pdf?t=mlqorh#page=14 61 n. 41]}} She reserved a few minutes of her time for rebuttal, meaning that she would speak again briefly after Orbie J. "Jay" Floyd,{{sfn|''Paris News''|1996}} the Texas assistant attorney general who represented Wade.{{sfn|Christopher|2019|loc=p. [https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1684&context=shlr#page=12 318 n. 72]}}

McCorvey was represented by two women, [[Sarah Weddington]] and [[Linda Coffee]]. Weddington was 26 years old when she argued before the Supreme Court in ''Roe''.{{sfn|Prager|2021|p=90}} She had been one of five women in her graduating class of 250 at [[University of Texas Law School]] two years prior.{{sfn|Hanauer|1989}} Only seven women had spoken before the court in the preceding twelve months; there was no women's restroom in the lawyers' lounge.{{sfn|Prager|2021|p=91}} According to court artist Betty Wells and Justice [[Harry Blackmun]], Weddington looked attractive.{{harvnb|Prager|2021|pp=90-91}}. "So as to better recall the argument of every lawyer come before him, the justice jotted a quick physical description of him or her. As Weddington began now to speak ... [w]rote Blackmun: 'large blond hair, rather pretty, plump.{{' "}} Coffee sat beside her at the table for petitioners' counsel. A number of abortion rights advocates sat in the audience.{{sfn|Prager|2021|p=91}} As counselor for the petitioner, Weddington spoke first. She spoke with an argument style that Mairi N. Morrison in the ''[[UCLA Women's Law Journal]]'' described as "classically female and extraordinarily effective".{{sfn|Morrison|1995|loc=p. [https://escholarship.org/content/qt1zs4h3nz/qt1zs4h3nz.pdf?t=mlqorh#page=14 61 n. 41]}} She reserved a few minutes of her time for rebuttal, meaning that she would speak again briefly after Orbie J. "Jay" Floyd,{{sfn|''Paris News''|1996}} the Texas assistant attorney general who represented Wade.{{sfn|Christopher|2019|loc=p. [https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1684&context=shlr#page=12 318 n. 72]}}

[[File:Jay Floyd 1977.jpg|thumb|Jay Floyd (pictured in 1977) argued for the state of Texas]]

After being introduced by Chief Justice [[Warren E. Burger]], Floyd began,

Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court.{{efn|name=mayitplease|"Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court" is the traditional way to begin oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.{{sfn|Perry|1999|p=68}}}} It's an old joke, but when a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they are going to have the last word.

About three seconds of total silence ensued.{{harvnb|''Roe'' argument|1971|loc=34:12}}. {{harvnb|Sant|2013}}. {{harvnb|Christopher|2019|p=[https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1684&context=shlr#page=12 318]}}. [[Margie Pitts Hames]], another abortion rights lawyer who was present, later said: "I thought Burger was going to come right off the bench at him. He glared him down. He got the point right away that this was not appropriate in that court."{{sfn|Garrow|1994|pp=525–526}} ''May It Please the Court'', a narrated selection of Supreme Court oral arguments, describes Burger as "annoyed" and the resulting silence as "embarrassed".{{harvnb|Irons|Guitton|1993|pp=[https://archive.org/details/mayitpleasecourt00iron/page/346 346–347]}}. "Narrator: No one laughed. Chief Justice Burger looked annoyed. After an embarrassed silence, Jay Floyd argued that the case was moot because Jane Roe was no longer pregnant." Cited in {{harvnb|Morrison|1995|loc=p. [https://escholarship.org/content/qt1zs4h3nz/qt1zs4h3nz.pdf?t=mlqorh#page=14 61 n. 41]}}, and {{harvnb|Gavenko|2001|p=[https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/3-540-45545-0_110.pdf#page=6 984]}}.

After being introduced by Chief Justice [[Warren E. Burger]], Floyd began,

Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court.{{efn|name=mayitplease|"Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court" is the traditional way to begin oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.{{sfn|Perry|1999|p=68}}}} It's an old joke, but when a man argues against two beautiful ladies like this, they are going to have the last word.

About three seconds of total silence ensued.{{harvnb|''Roe'' argument|1971|loc=34:12}}. {{harvnb|Sant|2013}}. {{harvnb|Christopher|2019|p=[https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1684&context=shlr#page=12 318]}}. [[Margie Pitts Hames]], another abortion rights lawyer who was present, later said: "I thought Burger was going to come right off the bench at him. He glared him down. He got the point right away that this was not appropriate in that court."{{sfn|Garrow|1994|pp=525–526}} ''May It Please the Court'', a narrated selection of Supreme Court oral arguments, describes Burger as "annoyed" and the resulting silence as "embarrassed".{{harvnb|Irons|Guitton|1993|pp=[https://archive.org/details/mayitpleasecourt00iron/page/346 346–347]}}. "Narrator: No one laughed. Chief Justice Burger looked annoyed. After an embarrassed silence, Jay Floyd argued that the case was moot because Jane Roe was no longer pregnant." Cited in {{harvnb|Morrison|1995|loc=p. [https://escholarship.org/content/qt1zs4h3nz/qt1zs4h3nz.pdf?t=mlqorh#page=14 61 n. 41]}}, and {{harvnb|Gavenko|2001|p=[https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/3-540-45545-0_110.pdf#page=6 984]}}.