美国国家公共电台 NPR Public Clinics Fear Federal Cuts To Planned Parenthood Would Strand Patients

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There's a provision in the Republican proposal to repeal¹ and replace the Affordable² Care Act that blocks Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid dollars for at least a year. Opponents of abortion³ rights say public funds for services like cancer screenings and contraception should instead go to health clinics that don't do abortions⁴.

NPR's Sarah McCammon looks at what that would mean for public health centers and patients.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE⁵: There are lots of reasons why women want to avoid getting pregnant. For Dawn States, two spinal⁶ surgeries as a teenager make pregnancy⁷ a bad idea.

DAWN STATES: My spine⁸ is fused, and I have two rods. And so it's just not really a setup for carrying around an infant.

MCCAMMON: Now 26 and living in Lancaster, Pa., States recently came to a Planned Parenthood clinic in York, about 25 miles away, to get a long-acting IUD.

STATES: Because I wasn't sure what was going to happen in the next foreseeable future. And I actually physically⁹ can't have kids. So it was - it's very important for me to never ever have that.

MCCAMMON: She worries about what will happen to women like her, who receive Medicaid and depend on Planned Parenthood for this kind of care. Planned Parenthood does provide about a third of the nation's abortions but can't use federal money for the procedure. For other services, like screening for sexually transmitted diseases, the organization gets more than $500 million a year in public funds, much of it from Medicaid. Eric Scheidler is with the Pro-Life Action League.

ERIC SCHEIDLER: Whether this funding goes directly for abortion or indirectly¹⁰ allows them to have access to a large population of potential abortion clients and to keep the lights on and man their call centers and do all their political activity, they should not be receiving taxpayer¹¹ dollars.

MCCAMMON: Instead, he says, those patients should go to community health centers that specialize in treating low-income patients.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I'm OK. How about you?

MCCAMMON: In York, Pa., there is a federally qualified¹² health center less than a mile from Planned Parenthood. Jenny Englerth is CEO of Family First Health, which offers primary medical and dental care at this clinic and several others in the area.

JENNY ENGLERTH: There are more patients who seek our care than we're able to provide care for.

MCCAMMON: More than half of the patients receive Medicaid, and the doctors stay busy.

ENGLERTH: Sometimes, in the height of the cold and flu season, there just isn't enough capacity to go around.

MCCAMMON: What's more, Englerth says, doctors here can decline to provide birth control if it violates their religious beliefs and instead refer patients to a colleague. Heavy patient loads are common at public health clinics, says Sara Rosenbaum, a health policy professor at George Washington University. And some patients may not go to a clinic that, by design, serves the whole family.

SARA ROSENBAUM: There may be people who were younger users of family planning clinics who were uncomfortable about going to a health center where they might run into their aunt sitting in the waiting room.

MCCAMMON: Rosenbaum points to Texas, where state lawmakers in 2011 reduced Planned Parenthood's funding. Dozens of family planning clinics closed and the birth rate for low-income women went up.

Sally Gambill, a certified¹³ nurse midwife at the Planned Parenthood in York says reduced access to contraception would mean more unwanted pregnancies¹⁴.

SALLY GAMBILL: The sperm¹⁵ and egg really, really want to meet. They just do. That's why we're all here.

MCCAMMON: If Planned Parenthood were no longer an option for some patients, Jenny Englerth says her health clinics would try to serve them.

ENGLERTH: But I also understand the reality of what we try to do every day and the pressures that we feel every day with our existing demand. So there are going to be gaps and shortfalls.

MCCAMMON: Englerth says, if there are big changes to the funding for low-income women's health services, she hopes they don't happen too quickly so centers like hers have time to try to close those gaps.

Sarah McCammon, NPR News, York, Pa.

1 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 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。

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 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。

6 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

7 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。

8 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

11 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

12 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

13 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

14 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

15 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。