2006年VOA标准英语- The Supreme Court Weighs in on Issue of P

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
23 January 2006
 
watch Right to Die report
 
  
  
The Supreme¹ Court last week upheld a controversial law in the state of Oregon that allows physicians to prescribe lethal² doses of drugs to help terminally ill patients end their lives.  While the issue involves matters of life and death, VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports that the Supreme Court did not decide on the morality of assisted suicide.

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Since the adoption³ of Oregon's Death With Dignity Act in 1997, about 200 residents of the state have chosen to die from an overdose of drugs legally prescribed by their physicians.

 
Char⁴ Andrews
  
"I don't want to have to die in diapers," says breast cancer victim Char Andrews. She is glad that Oregonians voted twice in favor of the law that may some day allow her to end her own life.

Opposing the Oregon law was former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and his successor, Alberto Gonzales, who asked the Supreme Court to overturn the controversial measure.  Both officials said that a federal law, The Controlled Substances Act, prohibits the use of narcotics⁵ nationwide for any reason other than legitimate⁶ medical purposes.  The attorneys general argued that assisted suicide is not a legitimate practice because physicians traditionally help people live, not die.

However, the 10th Amendment⁷ to the U.S. Constitution grants the states all powers that the document does not specifically delegate to the federal government.  Determining medical policy is considered to be one such power.  

 
Mark Moller 
  
Mark Moller, a constitutional expert at the Cato Institute think tank in Washington, says that the morality of assisted suicide was not an issue in the Oregon case.  "What was at issue is whether a federal drug law, the controlled Substances Act, gives the Attorney General the power to second guess states' assisted suicide policies. And the court said that the congressional drug law didn't clearly give the Attorney General that authority.  That's all it held."

Legislators in Washington state, Oregon's neighbor to the north, are also considering an assisted suicide law, though voters rejected the practice in a referendum in the early 1990s.  It remains⁸ a crime in 44 states, and a civil offense⁹ in Virginia.  Four states are neutral. Michigan even sentenced Dr. Jack¹⁰ Kevorkian to as much as 25 years in jail for helping¹¹ patients die in that state.

While Oregon is out of step with the rest of the nation, Mark Moller says American states have always experimented with social policy.

"This is the idea of the framers [authors of the Constitution].  That we don't have one government, but we have multiple governments, each that can try different policies, see if they work and we can learn from them," he says.

This means that the Supreme Court, in a six to three vote, decided¹² on procedure, not morality.  Catholic University politics professor David Coyne says this is important for the rule of law.

 
David Coyne
  
"While sticking to a procedure may seem somewhat amoral -- like it's skipping the important question -- that in itself is something of a moral judgment¹³; to trust in the rule of law as a positive good.  Now at some point, the moral question has a very appropriate role,” said the professor.

Professor Coyne says the U.S. Congress could enter the morality debate by amending¹⁴ the Controlled Substances Act with a definition of "legitimate medical practice" that excludes assisted suicide. However, he notes that the states could argue in court that Congress would be usurping¹⁵ their right to determine medical policy.

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 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

3 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

4 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

5 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 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。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

14 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

15 usurping   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的现在分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• Earlier the Ukrainian President dissolved Parliament because it claimed it was usurping power. 之前乌克兰总统解散国会因为国会声称要夺权。