美国国家公共电台 NPR Landmark Report Concludes Abortion In U.S. Is Safe

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

There's a new report out today on abortion¹ safety and quality in the United States. It comes from the National Academy of Sciences. And it is the first time in more than 40 years the group has taken an in-depth look at the science. It finds high levels of safety for surgical² and medical abortions³. As NPR's Alison Kodjak reports, it concludes that many regulations states have imposed on abortion don't improve safety but instead create barriers to access and quality.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE⁴: The researchers look at the four major methods used for abortions in the U.S. from the time before women get the procedure through their follow-up care. Ned Calonge is the co-chair of the committee that wrote the study.

NED CALONGE: I would say the main takeaway is that abortions that are provided in the United States are safe and effective.

KODJAK: Calonge is a family practitioner⁵ and professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver. He says the study shows most abortions, about 90 percent, happen in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy⁶. And he says complications are extremely rare. One of the biggest barriers to safe abortions, he says, are state laws and regulations that have no basis in medical research.

CALONGE: There are some requirements that require clinicians to misinform women of the health risks, that say you have to inform a woman that an abortion will increase her risk of breast cancer.

KODJAK: That rule exists in five states.

CALONGE: There are policies that mandate⁷ clinically unnecessary services like pre-abortion ultrasounds, separate inpatient counseling. There are required waiting periods.

KODJAK: Twenty-seven states make women wait at least 24 hours for an abortion, and 11 require women to have an ultrasound before they can terminate their pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which does research on reproductive health. There are state laws that dictate⁸ who can perform abortions and where they can do them. And some require all abortions to happen in the equivalent of a hospital or surgery center. Others require a doctor to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital.

HAL LAWRENCE: Those sorts of laws have been totally debunked⁹.

KODJAK: That's Hal Lawrence, the CEO of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He says the National Academy's report shows that most of those laws do nothing to improve women's health, and many of them just end up delaying when women get an abortion.

LAWRENCE: Abortion is safer when it's performed earlier in gestation¹⁰. And so delaying and making people wait and go through hoops¹¹ of unnecessary extra second procedures does not improve the safety and actually, by having them delay, can actually worsen the safety.

KODJAK: The Supreme¹² Court in 2016 voided some state abortion laws when it ruled that Texas' strict rules around abortion facilities impose an undue¹³ burden on women. But other laws remain in place even without any backing in medical research. Donna Harrison is the executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She says abortions should be treated like other surgical procedures with lots of oversight¹⁴ and regulation.

DONNA HARRISON: The tendency to look at abortion as though it were not a serious medical procedure is irresponsible. We all know that the fetus¹⁵ is killed during an abortion. But women can be harmed by irresponsible medical care.

KODJAK: The new report, which runs more than 200 pages, addresses most aspects of abortion care. Additional takeaways - nurse practitioners¹⁶ and physician's assistants can perform abortions just as safely as doctors, and women who get abortions show no negative long-term impact on their physical or mental health. Alison Kodjak, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF APHEX TWIN'S "JYNWYTHEK YLOW")

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 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

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 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。

5 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

6 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。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

9 debunked   

v.揭穿真相，暴露( debunk的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His theories have been debunked by recent research. 最近的研究揭穿了他的理论的真相。
• Some advertising slogans should be debunked. 某些夸大的广告用语应予揭露。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gestation   

n.怀孕；酝酿

参考例句：

• The gestation period can be anything between 95 and 150 days.妊娠期从95天至150天不等。
• This film was two years in gestation.这部电影酝酿了两年。

11 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）

12 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。

13 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。

14 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

15 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。

16 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