VOA慢速英语--美国最高法院批准德克萨斯州限制堕胎的法律

US Supreme¹ Court Leaves Texas Law Restricting Abortions³ in Place

A divided United States Supreme Court refused to block a Texas law that activists⁴ say effectively bans abortions in the nation's second-largest state.

An abortion² is a medical operation used to end a pregnancy⁵ and cause the death of the fetus⁶.

Some experts say the Texas law puts the power of enforcement in the hands of private citizens. And it also offers money for them to do so.

Last May, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas signed legislation banning abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is discovered. This usually happens at six weeks. Activists say that is before many women know that they are pregnant.

On Monday, a group of abortion activists asked the nation's highest court to block enforcement of the law. The group said the Texas law would bar at least 85 percent of abortions in the state. They said it would likely cause many clinics to close. The group asked the court to intervene while it is fighting the constitutionality of the law in lower courts.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to block the Texas law by a vote of five to four. The majority issued an order saying that opponents had "raised serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law." But it said that was not enough. The majority explained that "it is unclear whether the named defendants⁷ in this lawsuit⁸ can or will seek to enforce the Texas law...that might permit our intervention⁹." The named defendants, in this case, are Texas state public officials.

The court's majority, however, said the decision was "not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas's law" and permitted legal cases against it to continue.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in his dissent¹⁰, called the Texas law "unprecedented¹¹." He wrote that by leaving the enforcement of the law to private citizens, the Texas law aims to protect the State from responsibility. He questioned whether a state can avoid responsibility for its law in such a way.

What's in the Texas law?

The Texas law is one of several "heartbeat" laws enacted¹² in states where the Republican Party has a majority. At least 12 other states, including Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Mississippi, have passed laws that place restrictions¹³ on abortions this year.

The legislation is considered part of an effort to overturn Roe¹⁴ v. Wade¹⁵. That is the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Abortion laws are often enforced by state and local officials. But the Texas law permits private citizens to bring legal actions in state court against anyone involved in an abortion, other than the pregnant woman.

Actions could be brought against doctors, office workers and others involved in helping¹⁶ with abortions. That could include anyone who drives a woman to a clinic to get an abortion. Under the law, anyone who successfully brings legal action against another person would receive at least $10,000.

Harold Krent is a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. He told Reuters, "It is a little bit like the Wild West." Krent compared it to an earlier time in U.S. history when private citizens enforced laws when the government was limited and there was little organized law enforcement.

Following the high court's order, Abbott said in a statement, "Starting today, every unborn child with a heartbeat will be protected from... abortion."

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement, however, that the law "...violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade." He said the law gives private citizens the power "to bring lawsuits¹⁷ against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion."

Dr. Gerald E. Harmon is president of the American Medical Association. He said the Texas law bans nearly all abortions in the state. He said it interferes¹⁸ with the relationship between people and their doctors. He also said it "places bounties¹⁹ on physicians and health care workers simply for delivering care."

Can the law be overturned?

The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to study a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In that case, Mississippi and its supporters have urged the court to formally overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Texas case will now return to lower courts, where the Center for Reproductive Rights is questioning the constitutionality of the law.

In May, the Pew Research Center released a public opinion study showing that a 59 percent majority of Americans say abortion should be legal. That center said that opinion has remained the same since 1995.

As for those providing abortions like Dr. Anuj Khattar, he told Reuters, "I feel like there's a bounty²⁰ on my head and I don't want to play this game."

Words in This Story

clinic –n. a place where people go to get medical help

regarding –prep. about; related to

conclusion –n. a final decision or judgement; an opinion or decision formed after a period of thought or research

dissent –n. (legal) a statement by a judge or justice giving the reasons why he or she does not agree with the decision made by the court

bounty –n. (legal) an amount of money given to someone as a reward for catching²¹ a criminal

deliver –v. to provide or produce something

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 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

4 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》

5 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。

6 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

7 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

10 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 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

14 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？

15 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。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

18 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

19 bounties   

（由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方

参考例句：

• They paid bounties for people to give up their weapons. 他们向放下武器的人发放赏金。
• This foundation provided bounties of more than 5 million last year. 去年该基金会赠款达五百万元以上。

20 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

21 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。