美国国家公共电台 NPR New Play About 'Roe V. Wade' Is A Prism For Looking At The American Divide

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

Just about every American adult has heard the names Roe¹ and Wade². Roe v. Wade was the 1973 Supreme³ Court decision legalizing abortion⁴ in the United States. Not so many people know about the real people involved, and now a new play explores their lives. "Roe" was first produced in Oregon and is now at the Arena⁵ Stage in Washington, D.C. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE⁶: When the Oregon Shakespeare Festival asked Lisa Loomer if she'd be interested in writing a play about Roe v. Wade, she was skeptical⁷ the court case would make good theater. Then she started reading about key players on both sides of the issue.

LISA LOOMER: And that for me was the story of the divide in American culture. I thought Roe was a great prism for looking at that divide about, why can't we even talk to each other about this issue?

BLAIR: She was also certain her play needed to be evenhanded.

LOOMER: Because I wanted people to feel as they watch the play that their point of view is represented, if nothing else because that helps people be more open and willing to hear another point of view.

BLAIR: The real Jane Roe was a hard living hippie-ish (ph) 22-year-old named Norma McCorvey. In 1969, she was poor and pregnant for a third time. She's played by actress Sarah Bruner. Here, she pleads with her doctor to give her an abortion. She tells him she tried to get it done illegally at a place she'd heard about.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "ROE")

SARAH BRUNER: (As Norma McCorvey) It looked like a ghost town, like somebody had moved out of there real fast. There's blood all over the floors, roaches, sheets like filthy⁸ rags, and the smell was...

RICHARD ELMORE: (As Doctor) Yeah. I do understand your predicament, Norma, but maybe you should have thought about consequences before you got pregnant for a third time.

BLAIR: Sarah Weddington was the daughter of a Methodist minister. As it happened, she already knew a lot about abortion. She'd had one in Mexico, something she didn't reveal until years later. She and another attorney challenged the state law on behalf of all Texas women seeking an abortion. Weddington is played by Sarah Jane Agnew.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "ROE")

SARAH JANE AGNEW: (As Sarah Weddington) In the absence of legal, medically safe abortions⁹, women often resort to illegal abortions, which carries risks of death, severe infection and permanent sterility¹⁰.

BLAIR: The lawyers for the state included Dallas district attorney Henry Wade - the Wade in Roe v. Wade - and attorney Jay Floyd played by Jim Abele.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "ROE")

JIM ABELE: (As Jay Floyd) I think she makes her choice prior to the time she becomes pregnant. That is the time of her choice.

BLAIR: The case was argued before the Supreme Court in 1971. Here, Lisa Loomer uses actual recordings¹¹ from the appeal. The actors, playing the lawyers, make their arguments facing the audience. From the back of the theater, you hear the voices of the real justices responding. Here's Justice Potter Stewart.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

POTTER STEWART: How should that question be decided¹²? Is it a legal question, a constitutional question, a medical question, a philosophical¹³ question, a religious question, or what is it?

BLAIR: In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jane Roe, too late for Norma McCorvey to get an abortion. But the play doesn't stop there, it goes on to explore the fierce battles that ensued. There's the anti-abortion rights organization Operation Rescue. Actress Amy Newman plays Ronda, an activist¹⁴ who tries to talk a woman out of getting an abortion. Ronda explains that when she got pregnant with her daughter, her fiance wanted her to get one.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "ROE")

AMY NEWMAN: (As Ronda) I was in my doctor's office and I happened to see a picture in one of those pamphlets they give you. I saw the precious little hands and feet. And, no, I may not be a scientist or a medical person, but I have eyes just like you do, and no one - no one - could tell me that this was a fetus¹⁵ and not a human being.

BLAIR: There's not enough time here to explain all of the complexities¹⁶ and nuance¹⁷ in the play "Roe." That, says Lisa Loomer, is what the theater's for.

LOOMER: I think of the theater as a place where we come together, sit together in the dark to contemplate¹⁸ an issue from a very, very human point of view.

BLAIR: Lawyer Sarah Weddington went on to join the Texas House of Representatives and became the first woman to serve as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She still speaks out for a woman's right to choose. Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe in the case, reversed her position and joined the anti-abortion movement. Lisa Loomer says even though "Roe" is a history play, so much of what happens in it is happening right now.

Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

1 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

5 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

8 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

9 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

10 sterility   

n.不生育，不结果，贫瘠，消毒，无菌

参考例句：

• A major barrier to interspecific hybridization is sterility in the F1 progeny.种间杂交的主要障碍是F1代的不育性。
• Sterility is some permanent factor preventing procreation.不育是阻碍生殖的一种永久性因素。

11 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

14 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

15 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

16 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

17 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

18 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。