美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden is expected to sign an executive order to protect abortion rights

Biden is expected to sign an executive order to protect abortion¹ rights

Transcript²

The White House says President Biden will try to answer the Supreme³ Court's reversal of Roe⁴ v. Wade⁵, and preserve access to abortion services by signing an executive order on reproductive rights.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden is expected to sign an executive order on abortion rights today. The White House says he is trying to do what he can to preserve access to abortion services after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But it's not clear how much this executive order will actually do. White House correspondent Scott Detrow joins us now. Scott, what's in this executive order?

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE⁶: Well, first, I think it's important to remind everybody what this cannot do and why Biden's options are so limited, right? He obviously cannot change the court decision. He cannot stop Republican-controlled statehouses from banning abortion. And it is clear at this point that Biden cannot get enough Democratic votes in the Senate to end the filibuster⁷ and pass national abortion rights law. So the White House has come out with a list of incremental⁸ or, frankly⁹, sometimes vague goals of what it is going to protect, including access to FDA-approved pills and the right to travel across state lines to get abortions¹⁰. One new thing that will be in this morning's announcement - the administration says it will ensure the safety of abortion providers, including in mobile clinics that are setting up next to states banning abortion.

MART?NEZ: Now, the president has been getting a lot of heat from Democrats¹¹ for not doing more and not announcing these responses faster. Any sense this might address that?

DETROW: You know, probably not. What we have seen so far of today's announcement includes a lot of vague steps and a lot of questions that aren't answered. You know, here are a few examples. Today, Biden will be asking the secretary of health and human services to make sure that medication abortion is available and also to expand access to emergency contraception and IUDs and to increase public education about these things. But the order does not say how those things are going to happen or outline new resources. Instead, the secretary is supposed to submit a report within 30 days on this. And then today's order also creates a new task force on reproductive rights to coordinate¹² policies, which again is probably not a step that screams urgency to many people.

MART?NEZ: Now, a week ago, when the president met with a group of Democratic governors, they were looking for some concrete resources to try and help with abortion care in their states. Doesn't sound like that call is being answered by today's action.

DETROW: Yeah. One of the messages from those governors was, like, we're going to help people coming across the state line as well as people in their own state, and they needed more resources to do that. There's nothing immediately apparent in today's plans that addresses that. There's also been a lot of calls for the administration to consider using federal facilities or federal lands for procedures in states where abortion is now banned. The White House has been really skeptical¹⁴ of that approach and does not seem willing to do that for several reasons, including real concern that that would open doctors and women up to immediate¹³ prosecution¹⁵ in those states.

Here's another new thing today. The administration is going to convene¹⁶ private pro-bono lawyers to provide help to people crossing state lines. But, you know, advocates have been saying one issue, again, is resources. Many women can't necessarily afford to travel to begin with. Advocacy groups have been asking for help with travel vouchers¹⁷. That's not something in today's action.

MART?NEZ: And another way the White House has faced some criticism is over its response to the Supreme Court's decision, that it wasn't prepared right away out of the gate. How much of today's actions may be as a response to that?

DETROW: I think a lot of it. Look, there's been real criticism that - and the White House hasn't had a good answer for that. Remember, we had an unprecedented¹⁸ situation of knowing almost a month beforehand exactly what was going to be in the ruling. And still, the White House has given the indication many times that it's scrambling¹⁹.

MART?NEZ: That's White House correspondent Scott Detrow. Scott, thanks.

DETROW: Thank you.

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 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。

3 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。

4 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？

5 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。

6 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。

7 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

8 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 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

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

14 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

15 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

16 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

17 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

18 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

19 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》