VOA慢速英语2019 法国可能允许更多女性通过复制辅助生殖技术受孕

France May Permit More Women to Become Pregnant With Medical Help

Life may soon change for some women in France. French law currently prevents unmarried and homosexual women from seeking medical help to get pregnant. If they want assistance conceiving a child, they must go to a country where the process is legal.

法国一些女性的人生可能很快就会改变。法国法律目前禁止未婚和同性恋女性通过医疗辅助受孕。如果她们想要辅助受孕，就必须去一个辅助受孕合法化的国家。

France limits assisted reproduction to heterosexual couples who are not able to get pregnant in the usual way. But government officials recently proposed a new law.

辅助生殖技术在法国仅限用于无法正常怀孕的异性伴侣。但是政府官员最近提出了一项新的法案。

The measure would give unmarried and homosexual women access to medically assisted reproduction in France for the first time.

这项措施将使未婚和同性恋女性首次有机会在法国获得医疗辅助生殖技术的帮助。

The law would permit methods such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. During such treatments, doctors combine male and female cells to create an embryo¹. The male cells may come from someone the woman knows, or they may be from an unknown donor².

这项法案将会允许人工受精和试管受精等方式。在这些治疗过程中，医生将精子和卵子结合起来形成受精卵。精子可能来自女性认识的人，也可能来自匿名捐精者。

The proposal calls for France’s national health care system to pay for four attempts of assisted reproduction each time a woman wants to get pregnant.

该提案要求法国国家医疗保健体系每次为意图受孕的女性报销4次辅助生殖费用。

The proposal also says children conceived with donated male cells should be able to learn the donor’s identity after they turn 18. The current law strictly³ protects donors’ identities.

该提案还说，通过捐精孕育的孩子应能在18岁之后了解捐精者的身份。现行法律严格保护捐精者的身份。

French officials say they are proposing the law to answer changes in society.

法国官员表示，他们提出这项法案来回应社会的变化。

At least 20 groups have already spoken out against the idea, however. They are organizing a protest to oppose the bill. The groups say the law will lead to more children being raised without fathers.

然而至少已经有20家团体发声反对这一想法。他们正在组织抗议活动反对该法案。这些团体称，该法案将会导致更多孩子在没有父亲的情况下成长。

They also worry that expanding access to different ways of getting pregnant will lead to legalizing surrogate pregnancies⁴. In that process, a woman carries and delivers a baby for someone else. French law currently does not permit surrogate pregnancy⁵.

他们还担心扩大各种受孕方式的获取渠道将会导致代孕合法化。代孕是指女性替人怀孕和生产。法国法律目前不允许代孕。

Alberic Dumont is a critic of the proposed bill. He says the French government is creating new rights while ignoring the effects on children.

阿博瑞克·杜蒙是该提案的批评者。他说法国政府在创造新权利的同时忽略了对儿童的影响。

But supporters of the proposal say it would help many French women. One example is Virginie. She married her wife, Cecile, in June. They recently paid for male cells to be mailed from Denmark so that Virginie could get pregnant. The cost was more than $1,000, and the move was illegal.

但是该提案的支持者表示，这会帮助到很多法国女性。维吉妮就是其中一个。她和她的妻子赛茜儿今年6月份结婚。她们最近花钱从丹麦寄来了精子，这样维吉妮就可以怀孕。她们花了1000美元以上，而这种举动是非法的。

Virginie told the Associated Press that breaking the law was difficult. She did not want to use her family name for this story. She says if her pregnancy fails -- and if the proposed bill succeeds – she and Cecile will consider using the new French law to try again.

维吉妮对美联社表示，违法是极不情愿的。她不想在这则新闻中说出她的姓氏。她说如果她受孕失败，而该提案成功通过，她和赛茜儿会考虑利用新的法国法律再试一次。

Lawmakers in France will debate the proposal later this year.

法国议员将会在今年晚些时候对该提案进行辩论。

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Words in This Story

homosexual - adj. of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex : gay

heterosexual - adj. of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward the opposite sex

access - n. freedom or ability to obtain or make use of something

artificial insemination - n. introduction of semen into the uterus or oviduct by other than natural means

in vitro - n. outside the living body and in an artificial environment

1 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

2 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

3 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

4 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。

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。