VOA标准英语2010年-World Health Organization Targets Unsa

A doctor examines a pregnant woman at a government run hospital in Nepal. The number of abortions² worldwide has fallen significantly in tandem³ with increased use of contraceptives, but unsafe abortion¹ remains⁴ a persistent⁵ problem killing⁶ 70,000 women a year, (File)

The World Health Organization says one of the simplest ways to reduce the rate of maternal⁷ mortality is by preventing unsafe abortions. At least half of the 42 million women who experience unplanned pregnancies⁸ decide to terminate by either inducing abortion themselves or by an unskilled provider. The WHO calls the number of unsafe abortions a pandemic. 

In some countries, just talking about abortion divides people into two camps: those who defend a woman's right to end a pregnancy⁹, versus¹⁰ those who believe the rights of an unborn child supersede¹¹ the mother's. 

Elizabeth Maguire works in the field of reproductive rights.

She says both sides can agree on one thing: no one favors abortion as the best method of family planning. "There is no perfect contraceptive method, so there will always be abortion," she said. "And it's important that abortions be safe and so that women don't die."

The World Health Organization says a woman dies every eight minutes from an unsafe abortion.  She is most likely poor and lives in a rural area of a developing country.  She is often young and has little or no support for what she is about to do.

 

WHO says if her attempts to terminate pregnancy fail, she turns to someone without adequate medical qualifications.  Often these abortions are unsanitary.

In 1994, the International Conference on Population and Development was held in Cairo, and for the first time, the conference report linked unsafe abortions directly to maternal death.

In the nearly two decades since the Cairo conference, at least 17 countries have liberalized their abortion laws.

India has one of the more comprehensive laws regarding a woman's right to abortion.  Dr. Nozer Sheriar, a gynecologist, says the law was passed to save women's lives. "We had hospitals with wards¹² overflowing¹³ with women with septic abortions (life-threatening abortions due to infection)  and those wards have all been closed.  So, having legal abortion helps," he explained.

But Dr. Sheriar says it is not enough to just give women the right to a safe abortion. It has to be readily available, without stigma¹⁴, to all women, including those in remote areas.

"Very often the woman would not have the autonomy of making her decision, so she has to depend on husband and family and parents and in-laws, and everyone's involved in the decision for the abortion," Dr. Sheriar said.

Eastern Africa has the highest rate of maternal deaths because of complications from unsafe abortion.  In 2005, Ethiopia became a model for other countries in the region by expanding abortion rights. 

But even Ethiopia has ways to go before safe abortion is accessible to all women.  According to one report, less than one third of the abortions in Ethiopia are performed in health care clinics and are considered legal and safe.

 

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 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

3 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

11 supersede   

v.替代；充任

参考例句：

• We must supersede old machines by new ones.我们必须以新机器取代旧机器。
• The use of robots will someday supersede manual labor.机器人的使用有一天会取代人力。

12 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

13 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

14 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。