What are the themes of ROE by Lisa Loomer?

Roe does not strictly advocate for or against abortion.  The playwright, Lisa Loomer aimed to represent multiple points of view centering the play on the individuals who were caught up in the events leading up to and after the historic Roe v. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.  It also explores how vulnerable individuals are often used as political pawns for strategic ends.  ROE strives to humanize the women at the center of one of the most polarizing issues or our time and explores what it is like to be an average citizen caught up in the tides of history.

What are the origins of ROE?
ROE was commissioned in 2012 by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) as part of their groundbreaking series American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle, a multi-decade program of commissioning and developing  new plays about moments of change in U.S. history. It was developed at the University of Texas and The Kennedy Center as part of DC’s Women’s Voices Festival as well as OSF’s Black Swan Lab before premiering at OSF in 2016. 
The play has been revised multiple times since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, US Supreme Court ruling.

Suitability warning:
This production is for mature audiences.  Roe contains strong profanity and graphic language. It also contains stories of sexual assault, abortions, self-abortions, parental abuse, drug use and alcoholism, mentions of suicide and systemic oppression.

Roe Research and Background Info

About The Case:
1. Roe arguments, Robert Flowers and Sarah Weddington (C-SPAN)
a.  https://www.c-span.org/video/?55899-1/roe-v-wade-1972-oral-arguments
2. What Came Before and After Roe
a. https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2022/01/tracing-what-came-before-and-after-roe-v-wade/
3. Roe Case Summary
a. https://reproductiverights.org/roe-v-wade/
4. The Turn Away Study
a. https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-study
b. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/15/1098347992/a-landmark-study-tracks-the-lasting-effect-of-having-an-abortion-or-being-denied

Norma McCorvey
1. NPR: The Forgotten History of Jane Roe
a. https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1128005826/the-forgotten-story-of-jane-roe-who-fought-for-and-then-against-abortion-rights
2. Who was Jane Roe in Roe v. Wade? NBC News Dallas Fort Worth
a. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/who-was-jane-roe-in-roe-v-wade/3000020/
3. Why Norma McCorvey switched sides: The New Republic
a. https://newrepublic.com/article/163908/norma-mccorvey-roe-wade-switched-sides-abortion

Sarah Weddington
1. Sarah Weddington, lawyer in Roe v. Wade case, dies at 76: The Texas Tribune
a. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/26/sarah-weddington-texas-roe-v-wade/
2. Weddington’s Legacy as Women’s Right Trailblazer Lives On
a. https://twu.edu/womens-history-month/featured-news/weddingtons-legacy-as-womens-rights-trailblazer-lives-on/

About “what else was going on at that time”:
1. America’s Forgotten History of Forced Sterilization
a) https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
2. The Waves of Feminism, and why people keep fighting over them explained
a) https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth
3. A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Feminism and Intersectionality
a) https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/women/intersectionality
4. Kimberlé Crenshaw on Intersectionality, More than Two Decades Later
a) https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/kimberle-crenshaw-intersectionality-more-two-decades-later