美国国家公共电台 NPR--New NPR poll shows a lower court decision to ban an abortion pill is unpopular

New NPR poll shows a lower court decision to ban an abortion¹ pill is unpopular

Transcript²

The Supreme³ Court has left in place, for now, access to an abortion pill. A new NPR study shows the original lower court decision to ban mifepristone, is far out of step with American public opinion.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have a report now on an unpopular institution.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Which one?

INSKEEP: (Laughter).

MART?NEZ: Because that line doesn't really narrow it down. The president's approval rating is below 50%. Support for Congress - extremely low. And now it would seem the Supreme Court's popularity is sliding, too.

INSKEEP: Last Friday, the court preserved access to an abortion drug for now. But that's not the last word on yet another divisive case. And today, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows that the original lower court decision to ban mifepristone is far out of step with the American public. NPR senior editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has been tracking this.

Hey there, Domenico.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE⁴: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: How unpopular is the idea of banning access to medication abortion?

MONTANARO: Yeah, well, this was a pretty big finding because 64% of respondents said that they are against laws that ban access to a medication abortion, and that includes actually a majority of Republicans. That might tell you why there's been such a big split among Republicans on this issue. You know, post-Dobbs, this has been a whole new world politically. And Republicans really have not figured out how to message on abortion after 50 years of clamoring for the overturning of Roe⁵ v. Wade⁶.

INSKEEP: What do voters say when asked if judges should be the ones to decide whether FDA approvals of drugs are overturned here?

MONTANARO: Well, they are definitely against that. Sixty-one percent said that judges should not be able to overturn FDA approvals. And again, there's another divide among Republicans. Fifty-one percent of Republicans said that they should be able to do that, but a significant percentage, 45%, said that they should not.

There's a split here among how Republican candidates feel on this, too. You know, former President Trump⁷, who's the frontrunner for the GOP nomination⁸ right now, has essentially⁹ punted, said it's a states' rights issue. But his former vice¹⁰ president, Mike Pence, was critical of that stance over the weekend while at a conservative conference in Iowa. And Pence said this about mifepristone to CBS's "Face The Nation."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")

MIKE PENCE: I'd like to see this medication off the market to protect the unborn, but also I have deep concerns about the way the FDA went about approving mifepristone 20 years ago.

MONTANARO: Well, most Americans, as we're noting, disagree with that.

INSKEEP: Well, what are Americans saying about the court itself? It has this 6 to 3 conservative majority. It is issuing rulings that a lot of Americans would like, a lot of Americans would dislike. And it's done so in a very kind of out-there tone that has been described often as partisan¹¹. What do people think about that?

MONTANARO: Well, the court used to be one of the most revered¹² institutions in American life, but really not anymore. We've been seeing this steady and continued decline in confidence in the court. Our poll found that 6 in 10 said they don't have very much or no confidence at all in the court. Just 37% said that they have a great deal or good amount of confidence in it.

Marist has been asking this question for about the last five years, and the 62% who said they don't have much confidence in the court is the lowest they've recorded. You know, think about that. Sixty-two percent have little confidence or none at all in the institution that has the final say on all of the most controversial issues in American society - guns, health care, abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, affirmative action, how police interact with their communities, you name it.

INSKEEP: And the judges making those decisions, the justices - there are relatively¹³ few of them, and they don't change very often because of the lifetime appointments.

MONTANARO: Yeah, and we asked about that too. And most Americans think that should change. Sixty-eight percent said the justices should only serve for a limited time. Only 30% said they think they should serve as long as they want.

INSKEEP: NPR's Domenico Montanaro.

Thanks as always.

MONTANARO: You're so welcome.

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 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。

5 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？

6 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。

7 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。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 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。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。