【英语语言学习】萨尔瓦多的妇女不允许流产

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

 

El Savador's highest court has ruled that a pregnant woman, whose health is expected to deteriorate¹ as her pregnancy² continues, cannot undergo an abortion³. The 22-year-old, who goes by the name Beatriz to protect her identity, has lupus. Doctors say she faces growing risks of kidney failure, hemorrhage, and maternal⁴ death. The fetus⁵ has a severe birth defect and is not expected to live.

 

In a 4-to-1 vote, the court upheld El Salvador's strict abortion ban, stating the rights of the mother cannot be privileged over those of the fetus. New York Times reporter Karla Zabludovsky has been following this case. And, Karla, tell us what else the court said in its ruling yesterday.

 

KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY: Well, the court, first of all, cited the absolute impediment that they have to authorize⁶ any abortion. They recognize that Beatriz has lupus and other pre-existing health conditions. But they said that her health is stable at this point and ordered doctors to monitor her continuously. I think it's important to note that they also made clear that if her condition worsens to the point where her life is in imminent⁷ danger, doctors would be allowed to proceed with an intervention⁸ with the objective of protecting Beatriz's life and attempting to save that of the baby.

 

BLOCK: This woman, Beatriz, is in her 26th week of pregnancy. And as I understand it, the fetus has anencephaly. In other words, it's missing part of the brain and skull⁹. Is that right?

 

ZABLUDOVSKY: That's correct.

 

BLOCK: Would there be other cases that have come up in El Salvador like this in which an abortion has been allowed? Is there any precedent¹⁰?

 

ZABLUDOVSKY: Well, in 1997, the Salvadoran penal¹¹ code was modified to eliminate any exceptions to the abortion ban. But it gets a bit nebulous in practice because when pregnant women are in imminent danger in El Salvador, doctors are allowed to prematurely¹² induce birth. But it is not called an abortion. And the difference is how close to death she is and the motivation behind the procedure. But the region is known for having strict abortion legislation, and we can see that clearly in Beatriz's case.

 

But over the last five years or so, there has been a shift toward loosening restrictions¹³. For example, in Mexico City and Uruguay, abortion was legalized for the first trimester. Colombia, Brazil, Argentina has relaxed restrictions in recent years as well in cases of rape¹⁴ or when the fetus is expected to die, for example.

 

BLOCK: What happens next in this case? Are there other options for Beatriz? In other words, for example, could she travel outside the country?

 

ZABLUDOVSKY: She could. Her lawyer told me that several U.S. hospitals had offered to do the procedure, but he wouldn't say which ones. If Beatriz were to do that, she would need to get a humanitarian¹⁵ visa. She doesn't have one yet. And if she says in El Salvador, it seems like she will have to wait it out until the point where doctors can say, you're facing imminent danger. We can now do an intervention.

 

BLOCK: Well, after the court in El Salvador ruled that she could not have an abortion, what was the reaction from her legal team?

 

ZABLUDOVSKY: Her legal team was outraged¹⁶. One of her lawyers called the decision misogynistic¹⁷ and said that the court was placing the life of the anencephalic baby, which has virtually no chance of survival, over Beatriz's life.

 

BLOCK: And on the other side, reaction from opponents of abortion?

 

ZABLUDOVSKY: Oh, they've been citing it as proof that El Salvador respects life from conception.

 

BLOCK: I've been talking with New York Times reporter Karla Zabludovsky. Karla, thank you very much.

 

ZABLUDOVSKY: Thank you so much.

1 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

2 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。

3 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。

4 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

5 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

6 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

7 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

8 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

9 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

10 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

11 penal   

adj.刑罚的；刑法上的

参考例句：

• I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
• He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。

12 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

13 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

14 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

16 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

17 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