Norma McCorvey, plaintiff in Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, dies at 69

Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff known as Jane Roe in the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling legalizing abortion, died on Saturday at the age of 69, a journalist close to McCorvey said.

McCorvey died on Saturday morning of heart failure at an assisted living home in Katy, Texas, Joshua Prager, a journalist who is writing a book about the decision, said in an email.

Her lawsuit, filed under the pseudonym Jane Roe, resulted in the court's landmark decision that established a woman's right to an abortion. The ruling has become the focus of a divisive political, legal and moral debate that has raged in the United States for decades.

(Reporting By Frank McGurty; Editing by Mary Milliken)