美国国家公共电台 NPR Ireland's Abortion Referendum Is Proving Deeply Divisive

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The people of Ireland vote tomorrow in a referendum that would open up the availability of abortion¹ - this, in a country that has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Opinion polls show that the vote is likely to be closely contested in that country, where a majority of people still describe themselves as Catholic. Here's reporter Alice Fordham from Dublin.

ALICE FORDHAM: In bright sunshine outside the elegant entrance to Trinity College Dublin, students hand out leaflets asking people to vote to repeal² the part of the Irish constitution that effectively bans abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Hi. Please vote yes on Friday.

FORDHAM: They wear cheery colored sweaters with repeal written on them and big smiles. But one of them, Sinead Clark, says it's not been easy.

SINEAD CLARK: It's been very emotionally taxing, and especially even just today when people come up to you and say they hope you die or yell rude words at you - just, like, slut, things like that.

FORDHAM: For a historically socially conservative country, Ireland has made huge changes since the 1990s, making contraception widely available, then legalizing divorce and homosexuality, and more recently, allowing same-sex marriage. But the bitterness of this debate highlights that for some people, abortion is just different.

ANDREW O'REGAN: I'm very proud to be part of the new Ireland. I'm part of this progressive generation. I lecture in university, and I'm surrounded by university students every day.

FORDHAM: This medical doctor, Andrew O'Regan, wants to keep abortion available only in cases of extreme risk to the mother.

O'REGAN: Of course, human rights extend to everybody, not just the strong, and they're there to protect the weak. The most weak and the most voiceless are the babies in the womb.

FORDHAM: A lot of anti-abortion campaigners have made compassion³ their theme. A spokeswoman, Geraldine Martin, says the health minister, Simon Harris, should give more financial support to women who might end pregnancies⁴ because they can't afford to raise a child. Thousands of Irish women travel abroad to have abortions⁵ each year.

GERALDINE MARTIN: We've all known women who have felt that have no other option for abortion. We've all known women who've - they've felt vulnerable and lonely. And I think it is unforgivable that Simon Harris would propose abortion as a solution without having adopted any other measures to meet these women and their needs.

FORDHAM: But despite this emphasis on compassion, its opponents say this campaign is tainted⁶ by association with the body that has been most insistent⁷ on keeping abortion illegal - the Catholic Church. Sociology professor Ursula Barry says the church has a dark, misogynistic⁸ history in Ireland.

URSULA BARRY: The treatment of women outside marriage in Ireland over decades was really brutal⁹. Women were incarcerated¹⁰ in mother-and-baby homes, and they were forced to work in laundries until their babies were born, and then their babies were taken off them and put up for adoption¹¹ in Ireland, England and America.

FORDHAM: A series of investigations¹² into these church-run homes has established that this abuse was widespread. In the wake of that and other scandals, the church's authority has eroded¹³ here, and that probably has contributed to a decrease in opposition¹⁴ to abortion. Pro-abortion campaigner and author Una Mullally says this referendum feels like a moment of reckoning.

UNA MULLALLY: Facing up to this legacy¹⁵ that we have in a country that is so dark when it comes to dealing¹⁶ with women and trying to confront the trauma¹⁷ that exists on a national level with regards to how we talk about reproductive rights is difficult - you know? - and realizing how much work we have to do as a society to face up to those things - so it's been really quite testing, I think, for a lot of people.

FORDHAM: Mullally says her parents voted in favor of the constitutional amendment¹⁸ banning abortion in 1983, and this time around, they are campaigning to repeal it. For NPR News, I'm Alice Fordham in Dublin.

(SOUNDBITE OF BJORN LYNNE'S "THE BONNY BOY (ORCHESTRAL FLUTE VERSION)")

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 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

3 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

4 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

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 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

8 misogynistic   

参考例句：

• And it brings out everything that is most noxious and misogynistic about the right. 而且，这种情绪也流露出右派思想中最为保守有害，歧视女性的那一面。 来自互联网

9 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

10 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

11 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

13 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

16 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

17 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

18 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。