美国国家公共电台 NPR 美国最高法院拒绝阻止 德州禁堕胎法案

We're going to go next to Texas, where a doctor is facing lawsuits² for performing an abortion³ in defiance⁴ of a new law.

我们将前往德克萨斯州，那里的一名医生因无视新法律进行堕胎而面临诉讼。

This is the law that bans most abortions⁵ after about six weeks of pregnancy⁶.

这是一项禁止怀孕六周后堕胎的法律。

It's also the law with a creative enforcement provision.

这也是一项具有创造性执行条款的法律。

Ordinary citizens are invited to sue anybody who helps with an abortion.

法律邀请普通公民起诉任何帮助堕胎的人。

State officials are barred from enforcing the law, which made it impossible to go to court to stop them.

法律禁止州官员执行该法律，因此无法上法庭阻止他们。

The Supreme⁷ Court, you may recall, declined to block this law in advance.

你们可能还记得，最高法院拒绝提前阻止这项法律。

Now the case is going to court, though critics of abortion are not happy.

现在这个案子要上法庭了，尽管对堕胎持批评态度的人并不高兴。

NPR's Sarah McCammon is following this and joins us now. Hey, Sarah.

NPR新闻的莎拉·麦卡蒙正在跟进并加入我们的节目。 嘿,莎拉。

Good morning.

早上好。

Just start off by telling us more about the doctor who's being sued.

先跟我们说说那个被起诉的医生吧。

Yeah, his name is Dr. Alan Braid. He's an abortion provider from San Antonio.

是的，他是艾伦·布雷德医生。他是圣安东尼奥的堕胎医生。

And over the weekend, he wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he said he intentionally⁸ violated this law in an effort to provoke a legal challenge to it.

周末，他在《华盛顿邮报》上发表了一篇专栏文章，称自己故意违反了这条法律，试图引发对法律的挑战。

He's now facing at least two lawsuits.

他现在面临至少两起诉讼。

And remember, as we said, SB 8 bans most abortions in Texas and lets anyone file lawsuits against abortion providers or anyone else believed to have been involved in illegal abortions.

请记住，正如我们所说，SB 8在德克萨斯州禁止大多数堕胎，并允许任何人对堕胎提供者或任何被认为参与非法堕胎的人提起诉讼。

These penalties for violations⁹ start at $10,000, creating a lot of incentive¹⁰ for people to file lawsuits.

这些违规的罚金1万美元起，给人们创造了很多的诉讼动机。

And that is what is beginning to happen, at least in one of these cases.

这就是正在发生的事情，至少在其中一个案例中是这样的。

And so who's doing the suing. Who's behind the suit?

那么是谁在起诉呢? 谁是幕后黑手?

Yeah, one comes from an Arkansas man named Oscar Stilley.

对，其中一个来自阿肯色州，名叫奥斯卡·斯蒂利。

And he describes himself in the filing as a disbarred and disgraced former lawyer who is currently in house arrest.

他在文件中称自己是一名被取消律师资格、名誉扫地的前律师，目前被软禁。

He's serving a 15-year federal sentence for tax evasion¹¹ and conspiracy¹² charges.

他因逃税和共谋罪名在联邦服刑 15 年。

Still, he told The Washington Post he didn't file the lawsuit¹ because of any strongly held beliefs about abortion but largely because he was hoping to collect the money.

不过，他告诉《华盛顿邮报》，他之所以提起诉讼，并不是因为他对堕胎有任何强烈的信念，主要是因为他希望能拿到这笔钱。

He's asking for as much as $100,000. The other suit was filed by a man from Chicago, Felipe Gomez, who describes himself as pro-choice.

他要价高达10万美元。 另一起诉讼是由来自芝加哥的男子费利佩·戈麦斯提起的，他自称支持堕胎。

And he is using this complaint to ask the courts to invalidate the Texas law.

他正在利用这一投诉要求法院宣布德克萨斯州的法律无效。

But, Sarah, this is how the law was designed, right?

但是，莎拉，法律就是这样制定的，对吧?

I mean, it had this accountability mechanism¹³.

我是说，它有问责机制。

If a person breaks the law, they were going to be sued by ordinary civilians¹⁴.

如果一个人违反了法律，他们将会被普通老百姓起诉。

So explain why anti-abortion groups aren't happy with this outcome.

所以请解释为什么反堕胎组织对这个结果不满意。

Right. They had hoped that the prospect¹⁵ of these penalties and litigation would stop Texas abortion providers from performing abortions beyond the limit in the law.

没错。 他们曾希望，这些处罚和诉讼将阻止德克萨斯的堕胎提供者实施超出法律限制的堕胎。

Now, most providers in Texas say they are complying with the law but not Dr. Braid.

现在，德克萨斯州的大多数医疗服务提供者都说他们遵守了法律，但布雷德医生没有。

And now he's facing these two lawsuits. But Texas Right to Life, which pushed hard for SB 8, isn't pleased.

现在他面临着两起诉讼。 但极力推动SB 8的德州生命权利组织并不满意。

This isn't what they intended.

这不是他们想要的。

In a statement, they say, quote, "Both cases are self-serving legal stunts¹⁶ abusing the cause of action created in the Texas Heartbeat Act for their own purposes."

在一份声明中，他们表示，“这两起案件都是自私的法律噱头，他们为了自己的目的滥用了《德克萨斯心跳法案》中规定的诉讼理由。”

But Doctor Braid, the doctor who defied this this law - you mentioned he did this intentionally.

但是布雷德医生，那个违反这条法律的医生——你提到他是故意这样做的。

He knew it was coming. He must be trying to draw out these legal questions.

他知道它要来了。他一定是在设法引出这些法律问题。

Is this going to call into question the law itself and whether it's going to be allowed to stand?

这是否会质疑法律本身以及它是否会被允许成立?

I talked to Mary Ziegler, a Florida State University law professor who focuses on reproductive rights.

我采访了玛丽·齐格勒，她是佛罗里达州立大学的法学教授，主要研究生育权。

And she thinks so. She says anti-abortion groups who backed this law in Texas hoped it would prompt lawsuits from like-minded people.

她也这么认为。她说，在德克萨斯州支持这项法律的反堕胎组织希望它能引起志同道合者的诉讼。

But now that it's taken effect, it's being used in a variety of other ways.

但现在它已经生效了，它被用于许多其他方面。

As a vehicle for getting rid of the law or just a vehicle for collecting money.

作为一种摆脱法律的手段，或者仅仅是一种敛财的手段。

And neither of those things, I think, are what Texas Right to Life had in mind.

我想，这两件事都不是德州生命权利组织想要的。

The problem, of course, is when you have a law where anyone can sue for any reason, there's no guarantee that they'll share the aims of Texas Right to Life.

当然，问题是，当你有一项任何人都可以以任何理由起诉的法律时，并不能保证他们会同意德州生命权的目标。

And there are several ongoing¹⁷ challenges to this law.

这项法律还面临着一些挑战。

This is just one more potential opportunity to test it in court.

这只是又一个在法庭上测试的机会。

NPR's Sarah McCammon, thank you.

NPR新闻的莎拉·麦卡蒙，谢谢你。

Thank you.

谢谢。

1 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。

2 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

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 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

5 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

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 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。

8 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

9 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

12 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

13 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

16 stunts   

n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
• The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。