美国国家公共电台 NPR--If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Michigan law would prohibit abortion for rape victims

If Roe¹ v. Wade² is overturned, Michigan law would prohibit abortion³ for rape⁴ victims

Transcript⁵

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Genevieve Marnon, legislative⁶ director of Right to Life in Michigan, about the state's 1931 ban on abortion which could come into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

If the Supreme⁷ Court overturns a constitutional right to abortion, decisions go back to the states, and some states have already decided⁸. In Michigan, a 1931 law makes abortion a crime punishable by prison, except if the mother can show her life is in danger. Genevieve Marnon is legislative director of Michigan Right to Life, and she is fighting to keep the law in place. Our colleague Steve Inskeep spoke⁹ with her and started by asking about the leaked draft opinion striking down Roe v. Wade.

GENEVIEVE MARNON: We are celebrating to a certain extent. But at the same time, you know, we remember the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision that - we all thought that Roe was going to be overturned during that decision. So while we're guardedly optimistic, we are waiting for the official opinion.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Help me understand the environment in Michigan, then, when that law goes back into effect. I've read that Michigan's attorney general has said she's not going to enforce this 1931 law, but she has acknowledged that it would be a county-by-county matter, and county prosecutors¹⁰ would do what they want.

MARNON: I think that if a prosecuting¹¹ attorney decides that they want to repeal¹² laws, essentially¹³ - because that's what you're doing it - you're essentially telling the lawmakers, I don't like the law. So if they really don't like the law, maybe they should run for office and go through the democratic process of amending¹⁴ the law, rather than just saying, I refuse to do my job.

INSKEEP: Suppose that a woman has been raped¹⁵ and is in a desperate situation. How do you address her concerns and what she sees as her rights to make choices for her body and her life?

MARNON: I mean, hopefully, any woman who's been raped - we can surround her with love and support because she deserves all the support she needs. Rape is a violent, horrible, vicious crime that should be condemned¹⁶ by everyone. And, of course, no woman deserves that kind of violation¹⁷. And we definitely support, of course, punishing the rapist, but we don't support killing¹⁸ the unborn innocent child.

INSKEEP: What would you say to a woman who says, this is putting me through months of, if not a lifetime of, emotional trauma¹⁹?

MARNON: We have over a hundred and fifty pregnancy²⁰ resource centers scattered²¹ around the state. Pro-life people donate millions and millions of dollars' worth of goods, services, counseling, et cetera, for women in a crisis pregnancy. Right to Life of Michigan has advocated for money in the budget, which our governor has vetoed, for help for women in crisis pregnancies²². So, yeah, we definitely want to be there to walk with women who are facing difficulties.

INSKEEP: I think you're telling me that your concern about abortion overcomes completely any concern about the rights of the mother in this situation.

MARNON: Well, you have rights, right? You have competing rights. You have the right to exist, the right to life. Should that child's life be taken from him or her? Should they be killed because the mother is facing other difficulties that hopefully we can help her walk through? So we have this balance of rights, and this is what we're looking at.

INSKEEP: But I think the place where you're at on the balance of rights, if I understand correctly, is you are concerned for the mother. You care about the mother, but she has no right.

MARNON: We do care about women. We always have. The question, though, is she's facing this difficulty. Does that difficulty give her the right to kill another person? That's really the pivotal question here, isn't it?

INSKEEP: What do you think about a national circumstance after a Roe v. Wade overturn, where abortion would be legal (ph) in almost all cases in Michigan, but legal nearby in Illinois? There'd be a patchwork²³ of laws across the country.

MARNON: Well, I think it's exactly what our founders²⁴ intended. They wanted a laboratory of states. So I don't see why, you know, people who are big fans of democracy are now somehow offended by each state exercising democracy.

INSKEEP: So you wouldn't want a national abortion ban, as some lawmakers have begun talking about?

MARNON: Federally, you know, I think there is constitutional framework for that. If we recognize that unborn child as a human being deserving of legal protection under the Constitution and as a citizen of this country, it would make sense to have a national ban on abortions²⁵.

INSKEEP: You know, I want to ask one more question. People obviously feel very personally affected²⁶ by this subject. Is there something that you feel people on the other side don't understand about you and your point of view that you wish you could quietly explain to them?

MARNON: Bottom line is, I'm happy to have a conversation with anybody. We really have to look at the core question of abortion. If the question is, can I kill it? - we need to be asking what it is we're killing and whether or not that thing that we're killing, that unborn child, has value. And in my perspective, that unborn child has as much right to live and exist as I do and you do. And that's what we're fighting to protect.

INSKEEP: Genevieve Marnon is legislative director of Right to Life Michigan. Thanks so much.

MARNON: Thank you very much. Have a great day.

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 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。

4 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

5 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 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。

8 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。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

11 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

12 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

13 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

14 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

15 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

18 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

19 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

20 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

21 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

22 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

23 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

24 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

25 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

26 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。