美国国家公共电台 NPR Abortion Rights Advocates Preparing For Life After Roe v. Wade

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

With the balance of the U.S. Supreme¹ Court in question, abortion² rights advocates are beginning to prepare for a future they hope never to see - one without the protections of the Roe³ v. Wade⁴ decision. The confirmation⁵ of President Trump's nominee⁶ for the court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, would not necessarily mean that decision would be overturned.

But we have new reporting this morning about how some abortion rights groups are, in fact, already preparing for that to happen. It comes from NPR's Sarah McCammon, who is in our studio this morning. Hi, Sarah.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE⁷: Good morning.

GREENE: So remind us - I mean, so many headlines about this and the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned and what that could mean. What exactly could be at stake here with this changing court?

MCCAMMON: Right. I mean, if Kavanaugh is confirmed, which isn't a foregone conclusion yet, there's no guarantee that Roe v. Wade - the 1973 decision that legalized abortion - would be overturned. But a lot of legal experts think it's very likely that it would be, or at least substantially weakened. And that would give the say back to the states, letting them have a lot more latitude⁸ to restrict abortion, which has reproductive rights advocates worried. I talked to Leslie McGorman with NARAL Pro-Choice America about this.

LESLIE MCGORMAN: This is a new time. This is certainly all hands on deck. This is certainly, like, red alert - whatever the phrasing for emergency you may come up with. Like, we are in that state right now.

MCCAMMON: So NARAL and other groups are trying to do a couple of things. One, they want to block Kavanaugh's nomination⁹. But second, David, they're also looking ahead to state legislatures to try to prepare for this possibility that abortion rights could eventually end up left to the states.

GREENE: OK. This sounds like something that's really important to underscore - that if Roe were, say, overturned, it's not immediately that abortion would be illegal throughout the United States of America. This would go to the states. It would begin a real process. So if you're preparing for that process, if you're a group like NARAL, what are you doing exactly?

MCCAMMON: Well, they're looking at state laws. Right now, more than 20 states have laws on the book - books that could ban abortion altogether. Or in most cases, if Roe were to go away, activists¹⁰ want to remove those laws. They also want to take proactive measures to protect abortion rights. NARAL has some model legislation to that effect that they'll be putting out.

Also talked to the Center for Reproductive Rights. One thing they want to do is make it easier for health care providers, like nurse practitioners¹¹, to provide abortions¹² so that if there is a greater demand, say, in more liberal states from women coming from more restrictive states, those providers can meet that demand.

GREENE: And I suppose abortion rights opponents - I mean, even if they are feeling like this is a good moment with the court changing in their direction, if a lot of these battles are going to move to the states, they must be gearing up as well.

MCCAMMON: Right. And they've been fighting these battles for a long time. Those would intensify¹³. Mallory Quigley is with the anti-abortion rights group Susan B. Anthony List. And she says they're ready.

MALLORY QUIGLEY: I think that that is where it's going to be very important, where I think both sides are likely to be extra engaged because this is really going to set the tone for the future of our nation.

MCCAMMON: So you would likely see a lot of debates about where to draw the line when to restrict abortion in a lot of these states.

GREENE: And so I guess we're looking ahead for the moment to Kavanaugh and whether or not he's confirmed. I mean, are activists feeling - how are they feeling on both sides of this?

MCCAMMON: Well, this is really the big fight. Both sides see Kavanaugh's confirmation as the major fight. Abortion rights opponents are very optimistic, although they know there's no guarantee that Roe would be overturned in that situation if he were confirmed. Abortion rights supporters, meanwhile, are taking this very seriously. They're trying to stop Kavanaugh's confirmation, but they realize that they may have to prepare for a future where that's not the case.

GREENE: All right. NPR's Sarah McCammon. Sarah, thanks a lot.

MCCAMMON: Thank you.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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？

4 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。

5 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

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 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

9 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

10 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》

11 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

12 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

13 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。