美国国家公共电台 NPR--What is the future of abortion pills, if the Supreme Court lets states ban abortion?

What is the future of abortion¹ pills, if the Supreme² Court lets states ban abortion?

Transcript³

Medication accounts for more than half of abortions⁴, fueled in part by a greater reliance on telehealth. How would a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe⁵ v. Wade⁶ affect abortion pills availability?

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, states can set their own abortion policies. But what about abortion pills, which can be prescribed across state lines? Medication now accounts for more than half of abortions, fueled in part by a greater reliance on telehealth. NPR's Yuki Noguchi joins us to discuss the legal future of accessing abortion this way. Good morning, Yuki.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE⁷: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So, Yuki, that draft opinion shows the Supreme Court is poised⁸ to overturn Roe. If that happens, what's next?

NOGUCHI: Well, what's next is a legal battle between red and blue states. A ruling will prompt about half of states to ban or further restrict abortion, whether performing in clinics or by medication. However, the Food and Drug Administration will still permit telehealth access to these pills for use up to 10 weeks into pregnancy⁹. And these differences in policies are important because both sides know that getting abortion pills through telehealth is a primary workaround for people in states clamping down on abortion. That's already happening in Texas, where new abortion restrictions¹⁰ took effect last fall.

FADEL: OK, that's Texas. What about other states?

NOGUCHI: Yeah. So you're seeing states take very different legal positions right now. States like Louisiana and South Carolina, for example, will allow criminal prosecution¹¹ of doctors providing abortions. But Connecticut recently passed a law saying it would shield its doctors who prescribe the pills to patients in other states that limit abortion, which means Connecticut won't extradite them to those states for prosecution. And New York and California are considering similar measures. So Mary Ziegler says it's basically this faceoff between states. She's a law professor at the University of California, Davis.

MARY ZIEGLER: Soon the question is going to be how states and potentially the federal government navigate¹² this arms race between people who are seeking to use medication abortion to circumvent¹³ state abortion bans and how states try to close those loopholes.

NOGUCHI: Ziegler says it raises other questions as well, like, you know, can states try to stop people from traveling or have a say in what's legal in another state?

ZIEGLER: And so if all of that sounds like the abortion issue isn't going to be out of the courts any time soon, it's because that's true.

NOGUCHI: And, you know, Leila, you'll see both sides just lawyering up.

FADEL: OK, so more legal fights to come. But this ruling hasn't been handed down yet. So as we sit here today, as we talk, is getting pills using telehealth legal? And then the bigger question - will it be after the ruling?

NOGUCHI: Yeah. So it'll depend where you are and who you ask. There are 19 states that currently ban abortion care by telehealth, but it is possible to get them legally in other states. Doctors can prescribe - you know, treat and prescribe in states where they're licensed¹⁴ and where telehealth abortion care is permitted. But the law is grayer when it comes to prescribing into states with abortion restrictions remotely. So Aid Access, for example, does that. Its founder¹⁵, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, works out of Austria and ships medications from India. The FDA says this importation of drugs isn't allowed, but so far it hasn't shut it down either. And Ziegler, the law professor, says Gomperts basically operates between international and domestic law.

ZIEGLER: Aid Access has taken the position, essentially¹⁶, that where she is, abortion is considered legal. She considers abortion to be a human right. State laws aside, this is a human right, and, you know, access is going to abide¹⁷ by that logic¹⁸, not by the rules in each state.

NOGUCHI: And as she said, you know, abortion is legal in Austria, where Aid Access is based. So extradition¹⁹ to the U.S. for violating a state's law is difficult and unlikely. And, you know, a Supreme Court ruling won't change that.

FADEL: Interesting. So how are those sites that offer these pills preparing for a possible post-Roe world?

NOGUCHI: Yeah. They're already seeing surging demand. Traffic on Aid Access' site jumped 30-fold the week after the draft ruling was leaked.

FADEL: Wow.

NOGUCHI: And people are even requesting prescriptions²⁰ to hang on to, you know, just in case they'll need it. And once there is a ruling, more people, of course, will be unable to get abortions in their own state, and so they'll have to travel to clinics where abortion remains²¹ legal if they need to go to a clinic. But many of those clinics are already overbooked. And that's where Jamie Phifer hopes that her site, Abortion on Demand, can step in. She hopes telehealth will alleviate²² those wait times, especially for those early in pregnancy or who have fewer medical risks.

JAMIE PHIFER: We anticipate serving patients who are already in these haven²³ states experiencing longer wait times for in-person care.

FADEL: Now, are there concerns about relying on telehealth from a doctor who might be very far from the patient that they're actually treating?

NOGUCHI: Well, yes, there are the same trade-offs that exist in telehealth in general - right? - if it might be cheaper and easier to access, but of course, in-person follow-up care might be harder. And again, these pills are FDA approved, and the risk of complication is low. But if or when, you know, a complication should occur, people are often left to find follow-up care with another doctor. So Katie Glenn argues telehealth makes abortion less safe. She is government affairs counsel for Americans United for Life, a policy group against abortion rights.

KATIE GLENN: This is a professionalized business that is designed to provide substandard care to every single person who comes to the website. These websites don't post, like, this is a picture and the bio and the credentials²⁴ of the doctor who does our calls. Like, we have no idea.

NOGUCHI: So Glenn argues in favor of laws holding doctors accountable through criminal prosecution.

FADEL: And what do those providers say?

NOGUCHI: Well, that's why they want to see their home states pass laws shielding them from prosecution by another state. One New York provider told me such provisions would, you know, give her the assurances she needs to continue prescribing via telehealth across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: If I have these protections from New York that I would then be able to send medication, abortion pills, to people in any state with the understanding that this is an FDA-approved medication, that is something I am licensed and fully²⁵ capable of doing. But I will certainly not be visiting any of these red states because somehow if they knew I was there, I would be brought in. And New York can't protect me if I am in one of these other states.

NOGUCHI: You know, Leila, so there are some personal risks to providers, of course. This doctor, for example, didn't want to share her name for fear of harassment²⁶.

FADEL: So no road trips through these states in her future.

NOGUCHI: Yeah.

FADEL: That's Yuki Noguchi, a science correspondent for NPR. Thank you so much, Yuki.

NOGUCHI: Thank you, Leila.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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

5 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？

6 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。

7 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。

8 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

9 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。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

12 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

13 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

14 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

15 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

16 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。

17 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

18 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

19 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

20 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

22 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

23 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

24 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

25 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

26 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。