美国国家公共电台 NPR--A Mississippi court case is integral to the future of Roe v. Wade

A Mississippi court case is integral to the future of Roe¹ v. Wade²

Transcript³

NPR speaks with WWNO reporter Rosemary Westwood, whose new podcast explores how a legal case in Mississippi could lead to the end of Roe v. Wade.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

When the Supreme⁴ Court issues a ruling that could completely reshape abortion⁵ access in this country, it'll be deciding on a case that came from Mississippi. A new podcast from WWNO and WRKF goes back to Mississippi to trace the origins of that case. The podcast is called "Banned." It's reported and produced by journalist Rosemary Westwood. I recently asked Westwood why it was important to her to look back on this decision's roots in the South.

ROSEMARY WESTWOOD, BYLINE⁶: I really felt, when we heard the Supreme Court was going to take the case and when they were going to examine this issue of whether states can ban abortions⁷ early in pregnancy⁸, that people might be surprised that we're at this point. And as someone who's been reporting on abortion laws and access and reproductive health care for a number of years, it did not sort of hit me that way. And I felt like it was my responsibility, in a sense, to try and explain to people this trajectory⁹. I really felt that Roe v. Wade seemed to have a sense of stability and permanence in people's minds. And this podcast is intended to help people understand that that was never the case.

FADEL: Let's talk about that because you start the podcast in 2018, when this ban is being signed into law - a 15-week ban, that you can't get abortions after 15 weeks - which, as you say in the podcast, is seen as clearly unconstitutional. And even then, those signing it into law joked about immediately being sued. And they were. Did state lawmakers and the Mississippi attorney general, Lynn Fitch, who's central to the story you tell and to the story of this moment - did they ever think that this would be the law that would go all the way to the Supreme Court?

WESTWOOD: They tell me they were not expecting this outcome. And actually, Jameson Taylor is one of the lobbyists that helped write this law. And what Jameson Taylor tells me is that he was putting this law together with a sense that it was a good next step for Mississippi. And Jameson says, you know, there wasn't a bunch of geniuses in a room, you know, knowing what we were going to do. But I think when people listen to this podcast, they will realize there were bunches of geniuses in bunches of rooms for 50 years, that this law is not about having some kind of magic bullet. It's about creating an environment where a law like this was going to be successful at some point. And this happens to be that point.

FADEL: And then you spent a lot of time at the Pink House, which I think a lot of our listeners have heard about at this point, because they are at the center of this Supreme Court case, the Jackson Women's Health Organization. And you spoke¹⁰ to both patients but also providers who not only deal with mountains of paperwork to comply with these more and more burdensome laws, but also they have concerns about their own personal safety. Can you talk about what they were telling you?

WESTWOOD: The doctor that we talked to in the podcast - he's had protesters outside places he's been living at, carrying, you know, signs and literature and with his face and his name on these posters, you know, saying who he is. He's afraid to use his name in the podcast. He's afraid for his family. He worries when he walks out of the clinic at night. He could get shot and killed.

FADEL: The other thing that struck me is at the beginning of the podcast, you take us to this moment in 2018, the signing of the 15-week ban into law. That's the law in front of the Supreme Court right now. And you note that everybody that's in that room is white. And then in the next episode, you take us to the Pink House, and you note how almost every patient is Black. Why was it important to draw that picture for the listener?

WESTWOOD: I think one of the fundamental things about abortion and abortion access, whether or not Roe remains¹¹, is that it is an economic issue. Like, you need money to get an abortion. And so what you see when this law is being signed are those with means creating this law who are far more likely to be white. And when you go to a clinic, you see people who are far more likely to have less means seeking out abortions to be able to control their lives, really. And when abortions are banned, assuming they're going to be banned, it will definitely be Black women and other women of color and young women - like, teens - who face the greatest hurdles¹² to still trying to access that procedure. And it's, you know, so overlaid with so many other issues of economic and health injustice¹³, really, where Black women are far more likely to die in childbirth. Black babies are far more likely to die in the first year that they're born. And that's true in Mississippi, which also has among the highest rates of maternal¹⁴ and infant death in the country. So the racial components¹⁵ of this issue are stark¹⁶, and you cannot talk about abortion without talking about that.

FADEL: You know, sometimes I feel like it's characterized as anti-abortion rights activists¹⁷ getting lucky in Mississippi with this law. Was it luck?

WESTWOOD: Partly. Partly it was because if we didn't have Donald Trump¹⁸ as president, this would not be happening. Donald Trump's ability to appoint three conservative justices sealed the deal for Roe v. Wade, and this law was timed sort of fortunately for those in Mississippi who wanted it to be passed and upheld and go to the Supreme Court, because as it was making its way through the federal courts, the Supreme Court was becoming more conservative with each appointment that Donald Trump made. So, yes, partly it was, but the luck matters in the short term, but I don't think so much in the long term when you have this many people working this hard for this long to create, you know, a legal community where Roe v. Wade is seen as an incorrect decision that needs to be fixed¹⁹, to create lawmakers wanting to pass laws to provide the Supreme Court an opportunity to make such a ruling. I mean, that amount of effort and work is really what got us here. But Mississippi's individual law - this particular law did get lucky to be the one chosen in a way to write this history for the country.

FADEL: Rosemary Westwood is the host of the podcast "Banned" from WWNO and WRKF. Thank you so much.

WESTWOOD: Thank you, Leila.

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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 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 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。

5 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。

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 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

8 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。

9 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

10 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。

11 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。

12 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

13 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

14 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

15 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

16 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

19 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。