纽约时报 美保障堕胎权法案拟被推翻--为中期选举铺路(1)

 

 

    The revelation of a Supreme¹ Court draft opinion that would overrule Roe² v. Wade³ has caused many Americans to express doubts about whether the justices are guided by the law rather than by their political beliefs.

    最高法院一份将推翻罗伊诉韦德案的意见草案的披露，使许多美国人对大法官们是否依据法律而不是他们的政治信仰表示怀疑。

    In interviews across the country, even some opponents of abortion⁴ expressed unease with the way that a majority of the court had coalesced⁵ behind the sweeping⁶ draft written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. that would undo⁷ nearly 50 years of legalized access to abortion nationwide.

    在全国各地的采访中，就连一些反对堕胎的人也对该做法表示不安--最高法院多数成员联合支持大法官小塞缪尔·阿利托起草的一份涉及面很广的草案，这将使全国近50年来合法化的堕胎机会化为乌有。

    Rebekah Merkle, an author and mother of five in Moscow, Idaho, said she thought that Supreme Court justices would be “vindicated as the heroes” if they struck down Roe v. Wade.

    丽贝卡·默克尔是爱达荷州莫斯科的作家、也是五个孩子的母亲她说，她认为，如果最高法院的法官们推翻罗伊诉韦德案，他们将“被证明是英雄”。

    But although she approves of the composition of the court, she does not dispute that it finds itself deeply enmeshed in politics.

    不过，尽管她赞同最高法院的草案，但她并不否认最高法院深陷政治泥潭。

    “It certainly seems more politicized to me than it used to be,” Mrs. Merkle said.

    “在我看来，它肯定比过去更政治化了，”默克尔说。

    “And part of it is because politics have gotten so ugly recently.

    部分原因是最近政治变得如此丑陋。

    And that seems to have definitely impacted the court, as well.”

    这似乎也肯定对法院产生了影响。”

    Jenny Doyle, a neonatal nurse practitioner⁸ and mother of two in Boulder⁹, Colo., was so distressed¹⁰ by the Roe news that she considered whether she should leave the country: “I think Iceland sounds good,” she said.

    科罗拉多州博尔德市的新生儿护士、两个孩子的母亲珍妮·道尔对罗伊案的消息感到非常难过，她考虑是否应该离开这个国家:“我觉得冰岛听起来不错，”她说。

    But she was on the same page as Mrs. Merkle in seeing the court as an increasingly political actor.

    但她和默克尔都认为，法院越来越具有政治色彩。

    “I absolutely believe in a term limit on the Supreme Court,” she said, of justices who can choose to serve until they die.

    “我绝对相信最高法院应该有任期限制，”她说，她指的是那些可以选择任职直至去世的大法官。

    “They are losing touch with the real America and the real issues of Americans.”

    “他们正在失去对真正的美国和美国人的真正问题的了解。”

    Scholars and political experts have regularly debated whether the court’s steady march to the right, exacerbated¹¹ by increasingly contentious¹² confirmation¹³ fights and disputes like the Senate’s refusal to even hold a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nomination¹⁴ of Merrick B. Garland,was sapping public faith in the court as fundamentally a legal forum¹⁵.

    学者和政治专家经常争论，最高法院的稳步右倾是否削弱了公众对最高法院作为一个基本法律论坛的信心。越来越有争议的就职确认之争和争议加剧了右倾，比如参议院甚至拒绝就巴拉克·奥巴马总统对梅里克·加兰的提名举行听证会。

    Also perhaps straining that faith was the now-familiar ritual of conservative nominees¹⁶ professing¹⁷ their view of Roe as settled law and their respect for precedent¹⁸ — and then apparently¹⁹ voting to overturn it the first chance they got.

    同样可能让这种信念变得紧张的是，保守派提名人现在熟悉的惯例是，宣称他们对罗伊案的看法是既定的法律，他们尊重先例--然后显然是一有机会就投票推翻它。

1 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。

2 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？

3 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。

4 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。

5 coalesced   

v.联合，合并( coalesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The views of party leaders coalesced to form a coherent policy. 党的领导人的各种观点已统一为一致的政策。 来自辞典例句

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

8 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

9 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

10 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

11 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

13 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

14 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。

15 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

16 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

17 professing   

声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉

参考例句：

• But( which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 只要有善行。这才与自称是敬神的女人相宜。
• Professing Christianity, he had little compassion in his make-up. 他号称信奉基督教，却没有什么慈悲心肠。

18 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。

19 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。