美国国家公共电台 NPR--Michigan abortion providers scramble to figure out what a court ruling means

Michigan abortion¹ providers scramble² to figure out what a court ruling means

Transcript³

The latest court ruling comes as providers say they're seeing huge demand for the procedure from both local and out-of-state patients.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Here's what flip-flopping court rulings can be like for abortion providers. First thing Monday morning, abortion was legal in Michigan. Then it wasn't. By the end of the day, it was legal again. All this confusion and chaos⁴ is coming just as Michigan is seeing a surge in increasingly desperate patients seeking abortions⁵ from out of state. Michigan Radio's Kate Wells reports.

KATE WELLS, BYLINE⁶: Dr. Audrey Lance is an OB-GYN, and Monday morning she shows up to work at Northland Family Planning Centers in Metro⁷ Detroit, and then she gets a call from her boss.

AUDREY LANCE: We had to immediately halt kind of what we were doing.

WELLS: That's because the Michigan Court of Appeals had just ruled that local county prosecutors⁸ can enforce the state's 1931 abortion ban. And Lance suddenly had no idea whether this meant she could face felony charges for providing abortions.

LANCE: And felt a total gut⁹ punch and in real time trying to figure out what this means for the patients that are literally¹⁰ sitting in my clinic.

WELLS: Some of those patients were in the middle of getting ultrasounds or others were in counseling sessions. The clinics have been packed lately, and the waitlists keep getting longer. So Lace goes out to her patients, and she tells them, I am so sorry.

LANCE: We wanted to do our very best to take care of them, but that we had to stop for the time being to figure out what we were legally going to be able to do.

WELLS: Some of these patients had driven hours or taken flights just to get to Michigan. The state has seen a wave of patients coming from Ohio, Wisconsin, even as far away as Texas. Planned Parenthood of Michigan says the number of abortion patients coming to them from other states has tripled since the Supreme¹¹ Court's decision. Lance says one of her recent patients was a young girl who drove seven hours with her mom from Milwaukee, had her appointment, turned around and drove home. Another patient was so frantic¹² that when Lance was going over some of the medical risks with her...

LANCE: She kind of cut me off and said, it's fine. I don't care what the risks are. You could shoot me in my uterus. I just absolutely cannot have another child.

WELLS: Some of these patients coming to Michigan already had abortion appointments in their home states canceled. Dr. Lisa Harris is a professor and OB-GYN at the University of Michigan's health system. And she says one of her patients was a woman who decided¹³ to get an abortion because her young son was diagnosed with cancer.

LISA HARRIS: And she couldn't continue the pregnancy¹⁴ and care for her son with all his medical needs and had her appointment and another state canceled at the last minute. It took her a couple of weeks to find care with us in Michigan. And ultimately she had her abortion procedure the day before her child was about to have major cancer surgery.

WELLS: But Monday morning after this court ruling, Harris said they had to tell patients, look, you may need to go to yet another state for your abortion. Then around 5 p.m. on Monday night, another big court ruling - a different judge issued a temporary restraining order that once again made it illegal to enforce Michigan's abortion ban. Late yesterday, that judge decided to keep the temporary restraining order in place, at least for a couple of weeks, when there will be yet another hearing. If this sounds confusing and chaotic¹⁵, Lance says, it is.

LANCE: It's confusing even to lawyers, let alone a layperson who is just trying to figure out if their appointment is still booked or not.

WELLS: Harris says the most important message for patients right now is that abortion is still legal in Michigan.

HARRIS: But if people don't know that or have doubts about it or are afraid of driving seven hours only to be turned away, which is what happened to some patients on Monday, yes, they will probably think twice or not think Michigan is going to be a welcoming place for their care.

WELLS: All of this confusion could be cleared up if the state Supreme Court steps in or if voters decide in November that there should be an amendment¹⁶ protecting abortion in Michigan. Until then, the right to an abortion in Michigan depends on the next court ruling, whatever that is.

For NPR News, I'm Kate Wells in Michigan.

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 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

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 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 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

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 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

8 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。

9 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 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。

12 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

13 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。

14 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。

15 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

16 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。