美国国家公共电台 NPR--A federal judge in Texas hears case that could force an abortion pill off the market

A federal judge in Texas hears case that could force an abortion¹ pill off the market

Transcript²

Following a hearing Wednesday in Texas, a decision on whether to take an abortion pill off the market is now up to a federal judge, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump³.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

It is now up to a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump to decide whether to take an abortion pill off the market. That drug is used in nearly all medication abortions⁴ in the United States, and anti-abortion groups are suing over whether the FDA improperly⁵ approved it. NPR's Sarah McCammon was in the Texas courtroom yesterday when both sides presented their arguments. She's with us now from Amarillo. Good morning, Sarah.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE⁶: Good morning, Sacha.

PFEIFFER: What do you consider the highlights from yesterday's hearing?

MCCAMMON: You know, one thing I noticed is that Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk asked a lot of questions of both sides throughout the hearing, which, by the way, lasted for four hours. And a couple of times he brought up a brief filed by a group of Republican attorneys general. They argue that the availability of abortion pills undermines their states' ability to restrict abortion, which they can do, of course, after last summer's Supreme⁷ Court decision.

An attorney for the anti-abortion group that's behind this lawsuit⁸, Erin Hawley, sort of seized on that idea in one exchange with the judge. And Hawley, who, by the way, Sacha, is married to Republican Senator Josh Hawley, said that the overturning of Roe⁹ v. Wade¹⁰ marks a sea change in the relationship between the states and the federal government when it comes to abortion. And she argued that access to this drug, mifepristone, is an affront¹¹ to the right of states, as she put it, to protect women and children. A lawyer representing the FDA, meanwhile, said that state laws about medication abortion are beside the point. Instead, she said, the question for this case is about the safety and effectiveness of the abortion pill, which was approved, by the way, more than 20 years ago.

PFEIFFER: Sarah, did the judge seem to give any hints to which way he was leaning?

MCCAMMON: I mean, you never want to predict, you know, what a judge is going to do. But we know a lot about this judge, Kacsmaryk. Not only was he appointed by former President Trump, but he has a long track record of involvement in conservative causes and ruling in favor of conservative causes. A lot of the judge's questions focus on what is known in legal speak as remedies - so in other words, how exactly to move forward if he were to agree with the anti-abortion groups who filed this lawsuit, so what that kind of a ruling might look like in practical terms.

PFEIFFER: And what might that look like?

MCCAMMON: Yeah, one option the judge discussed with the lawyers is directly ordering the FDA to pull the drug off the market nationwide, at least temporarily, while the case plays out. That's what the plaintiffs want him to do. But short of that, he could instruct the FDA to start a withdrawal¹² process that would take some time to implement¹³. That's something he also talked about during the hearing. David Donatti is with the ACLU of Texas, and here's what he said.

DAVID DONATTI: The scope of that order is going to be very important. It could make the difference between whether mifepristone is ordered to be taken off the shelves immediately or whether there's an administrative¹⁴ process that allows for public input¹⁵ and comment, which would be more appropriate.

MCCAMMON: Either way, he says, there's likely to be some confusion in the short term. You know, what steps, if any, does the FDA have to take? Do doctors have to stop prescribing the drug right away? And Donatti, by the way, along with several other legal observers who flew into Amarillo, was not able to get inside the small federal courtroom here because of limited space.

PFEIFFER: Oh, a lot of interest, then - yeah, interesting.

MCCAMMON: Yeah. You may remember there was a lot of concern leading up to the hearing about public access. The judge made the details of it public only two days beforehand, and that was after some pressure from media groups. No cameras were allowed, no public livestream. So a lot of people couldn't listen who wanted to. And I'm hearing a lot of frustration¹⁶ from abortion rights advocates about that, given how high stakes this case is.

PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Sarah McCammon reporting from Amarillo. Sarah, thanks for your reporting on this.

MCCAMMON: Thank you, Sacha.

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 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 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

5 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

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 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 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。

9 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？

10 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。

11 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

12 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

14 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

15 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

16 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。