Coming right off far too many (which is to say, any) archaic and draconian birth control-centered debates in the halls of Washington, D.C., now’s a fitting time to dredge up another similar topic. According to Deadline, Katonah Pictures will chronicle the Roe v. Wade case in A Question of Choice, their developing adaptation of Sarah Weddington‘s non-fiction book.

Weddington found herself at the center of this groundbreaking case in the early ’70s, in which the U.S. Supreme Court extended female medical rights to abortions (several factors notwithstanding); she’s, hence, the center of Question, which shows the 27-year-old “in way over her head, [having] won her first and only court case with repercussions that reverberate just as loudly today as they did back then.” Producers Dan Abrams and Chris Salvaterra deemed it a mixture of The Verdict, Erin Brockovich, and The Paper Chase — one that “will attract top-tier talent.”

A story with more personal significance than general historic overview, which is probably the best way to handle a topic that, when you think about it, can’t yield many new surprises, anyway. Further judgements will simply have to wait for the hiring of some talent, though.

Here’s a full synopsis (via Amazon):

“A milestone in the ongoing battle for abortion rights was achieved 20 years ago before the Supreme Court by the then 27-year-old Texas lawyer Weddington who won the Roe v. Wade case legalizing abortion in the U.S. Here she recounts with clarity and fervor the remarkable story of how she, her husband and a few other lawyers, supported by a handful of doctors and pro-choice advocates, researched and prepared briefs invoking the “right of privacy” defense as a main argument to challenge the Texas anti-abortion law. However, certain conditions–trimester viability of the fetus, etc.–imposed by states, limited funding and services, along with well-organized, occasionally violent pro-life factions supported by conservative administrations and their court appointees, threaten to overthrow the 1973 decision. The author urgently calls for immediate, major and sustained efforts on the part of pro-choice forces to preserve the freedom of women to control their lives.”

Do you see anything compelling coming out of this story?