As more states restrict reproductive rights, abortion options dwindle

As more states restrict reproductive rights, abortion¹ options dwindle²

Transcript³

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to legal historian Mary Ziegler about red state abortion restrictions⁴ ahead of an upcoming Supreme⁵ Court ruling that could erode⁶ the landmark⁷ Roe⁸ v. Wade⁹ decision.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The state of Oklahoma is banning abortion again and again and again. Two separate bills have made it through the state legislature this week. Both allow lawsuits¹⁰ against people involved in abortions¹¹ in the style of a recent Texas law. Weeks ago, Republican Governor Kevin Stitt signed a different bill that makes abortion a felony. Oklahoma is not waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on abortion that's expected later this year. So how much do these and other bills around the country matter?

Mary Ziegler is watching all this. She is a professor and legal historian at Florida State University College of Law. Good morning.

MARY ZIEGLER: Hi, Steve. How are you?

INSKEEP: How, if at all, are these laws in multiple states changing the availability of abortion?

ZIEGLER: Well, they obviously have a chilling effect because many people who are listening to this don't understand. If you live in the state of Oklahoma, it would be perfectly¹² reasonable for you to think that abortion was already criminal. And SB8-style bills, Texas-style bills, can likely go into effect immediately, and that's going to have an effect not only in the state where they're enacted¹³ but in neighboring states as well because we know that there have already been people traveling from state to state because of restrictions already on the books.

INSKEEP: I'm just thinking about the map here. If you were in Texas, if you were affected¹⁴ by the Texas law and you decided¹⁵ to go out of state, one of the obvious places to go would be Oklahoma, which doesn't seem so safe anymore.

ZIEGLER: Exactly, yeah. So we're - and we're going to see more and more of this as time goes on, especially if the Supreme Court does, as predicted, overrule Roe v. Wade. We're going to see really kind of entire regions out of business when it comes to abortion.

INSKEEP: In a practical sense, how does that affect women who are in that situation, given the current state of medical science, which is a little different than it was, I suppose, in 1972?

ZIEGLER: Well, it's different insofar as there's now medication abortion, and there are non-governmental organizations abroad that make abortion medication available or will mail it to you even in places where it's illegal. So at least for early abortions, self-managed medication abortion can be a safe option. With that said, there are going to be people who don't have internet access. There are going to be people who need to have abortions later in pregnancy¹⁶. There are going to be people who have complications when they do have abortions, even with medication. So that's far from a perfect solution for people seeking abortions, but it's definitely a game changer compared to where we were in the '60s and '70s.

INSKEEP: Let's talk about the implications of a Supreme Court ruling. You mentioned that it's been widely predicted that Roe v. Wade will be overturned. We don't know that. We don't know precisely¹⁷ what the court will rule. We don't know if there is some nuance¹⁸ or subtlety¹⁹ here. But we do know that for many years, multiple states have had trigger laws on the books that would automatically ban abortion in the event of a Supreme Court ruling that made it possible. Now we have this new raft of laws that have been passed in recent months. How does the landscape change on the day after a Supreme Court ruling if it does in some way reduce or eliminate Roe v. Wade?

ZIEGLER: Well, if it reduces Roe v. Wade, then things get really complicated because we have both sort of zombie laws, pre-Roe bans and trigger laws. All of those need Roe v. Wade to be overturned to go into effect. And that would, of course, raise the question of what exactly just happened, right? Did the Supreme Court overrule Roe v. Wade, or did they just cut back? Is, you know, partially²⁰ overruling Roe v. Wade enough? And the different laws have different mechanisms²¹ for determining that. Sometimes the attorney general needs to weigh in. Sometimes it's not even clear what would happen. So on the day after, there would be a lot of chaos²². You would imagine, if the overruling is clear enough, that somewhere, you know, within weeks or, you know, in some cases a month after the overruling of Roe, all of those criminal laws would go into effect, and you would see essentially²³, you know, massive shutdowns of abortion clinics across large swaths of the South and Midwest.

INSKEEP: I guess we could also see massive lawsuits, given the nature of some of the laws being passed.

ZIEGLER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we - and we would see - we would even see lawsuits, as I mentioned, about, you know, figuring out whether Roe v. Wade was, in fact, gone entirely²⁴ or not.

INSKEEP: Do you assume that that chaos is in our near future, that the Supreme Court is going to change the Roe v. Wade standard in some way?

ZIEGLER: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I would be shocked if Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land in a few years. I mean, I think it's really just a question of if it happens this year or in the next few years. I think there's really - I would be shocked if the Supreme Court saved abortion rights in the long term.

INSKEEP: Mary Ziegler is a professor at Florida State University College of Law, also attached to Harvard. Thank you so much.

ZIEGLER: Thanks for having me.

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 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 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。

6 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

7 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

8 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

9 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

10 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

11 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

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 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。

16 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。

17 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

18 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

19 subtlety   

n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别

参考例句：

• He has shown enormous strength,great intelligence and great subtlety.他表现出充沛的精力、极大的智慧和高度的灵活性。
• The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.大多数听众都没有觉察到他讲话的微妙之处。

20 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

21 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

23 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

24 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。