在线英语听力室

Texas Women Drive Hours for Abortions after New Law

时间:2021-10-21 02:37:52

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

 

A 33-year-old pregnant woman from Texas recently drove alone through the night to get to Shreveport, Louisiana. She had come to the city for an abortion1 - a medical operation to end her pregnancy2.

The woman, who is single and unemployed3, has three children between the ages of 5 and 13. She feared that adding a baby now would take time, food and money away from her children. Without help from groups offering a safe abortion, she said, she probably would have sought another way to end her pregnancy.

"If you can't get rid of the baby, what's the next thing you're going to do?" she said. "You're going to try to get rid of it yourself. It shouldn't be like that," she added. "I shouldn't have to do that."

Last month, Texas passed a law banning most abortions4 in the state. The law says abortions may not take place if the doctor can see or hear the fetus's heart activity. That is usually possible by about six weeks into a pregnancy. Most women do not even know they are pregnant within that time period.

The law makes no exceptions for rape5 or incest. As a result, abortion centers in surrounding states are seeing far more women from outside the state than usual.

The 33-year-old Texas mother was one of more than 10 women who arrived on October 9 at the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport. Some of the women came alone. Others arrived with a friend or a partner. Some brought their children because they were unable to get childcare.

All were seeking to end pregnancies6, and most were from neighboring Texas. Some of the women agreed to speak to The Associated Press on the condition that their names not be given.

Like many of the others, the 33-year-old Texas mother said she tried to seek an abortion closer to home. But she was too far along in her pregnancy. By the time she arrived at the Shreveport center, she was nine weeks pregnant. She was too far along to use medication to end her pregnancy. So, she had to have the operation.

She said the process left her angry with the Texas politicians who passed the law.

"If I had to keep this baby, ain't no telling what would've happened. I probably would've went crazy, and they don't understand that," she said. Her voice was filled with emotion.

A 25-year-old woman made the 112-kilometer trip south from Texarkana, on the border of Texas and Arkansas. She said she was already five weeks along before she learned she was pregnant. She knew it would be impossible to schedule the required two visits at a Texas center closer to home. By the time of her appointment in Shreveport, her pregnancy was almost too far along for a medication abortion.

"Luckily I found out when I did," she said, "because then I was still able to take the pill rather than the surgery."

The Texas law has faced legal opposition7 in courts for weeks. The administration of President Joe Biden urged the courts again last week to suspend the law. That effort came three days after a federal appeals court put the law back in place. An earlier lower-court ruling had created a brief 48-hour period in which Texas abortion providers hurried to bring in patients again.

The anti-abortion campaign that fueled the law aims to reach the U.S. Supreme8 Court. Abortion opponents hope the conservative coalition9 of justices that formed under former President Donald Trump10 will end the constitutional right to have an abortion.

As most of the women arrived at the abortion center, they were met by abortion protesters. Most of the protesters were from East Texas. They often make the trip to the Shreveport center.

John Powers is from Jacksonville, Texas. The 44-year-old said he usually makes the nearly two-hour drive to Shreveport two times a month. His goal is to get any woman to change her mind. In the 13 years he has been protesting outside centers, he says he has persuaded two women to change their minds. He calls these two times "turnarounds."

"I'm not going to say it happens a lot," said Powers. "Let's say I never have another turnaround, that one baby that can now grow up and marry and have her own children, go to school and maybe become a journalist. That'd be worth it, easily worth it to me."

Once inside the medical center, women are welcomed by workers who offer understanding and support.

Many of the women's stories are troubling for the center's administrator11, Kathaleen Pittman. She started working in an abortion center 30 years ago. She said she recently spoke12 to a mother in Texas trying to get an abortion for her 13-year-old daughter, who was sexually abused.

"She's a child," Pittman said. "She should not have to be on the road for hours getting here."

Before the law went into effect, Pittman said, about 20 percent of people she saw were from Texas. They mostly came from the eastern part of the state, not far from Shreveport. Now that number is closer to 60 percent, and the women come hundreds of kilometers away from cities like Austin, Houston and San Antonio.

About 55,440 abortions were performed in Texas in 2017. That number comes from the most recent data available from the Guttmacher Institute. The research organization supports abortion rights. Abortions performed in Texas represent more than 6 percent of all abortions in the United States, Guttmacher reported.

An estimated 1,000 women each week in Texas seek an abortion. Centers in nearby states are reporting huge increases in patient numbers.

The Trust center in Oklahoma City is about a three-hour drive from the Texas city of Dallas. It saw about 11 patients from Texas in August, just before the new law went into effect. By September, that number jumped to 110. Telephones at the center are always ringing, said Rebecca Tong. She is a leader of Trust Women.

The Texas law and the difficulty in finding out-of-state appointments also force women to wait longer. This leads to greater costs, more risks and fewer available methods for ending pregnancy, Tong said.

Legislators in some states surrounding Texas hope to pass a similar law that would prevent most abortions. In Oklahoma, Republican state lawmaker Julie Daniels wrote or supported four separate measures to further restrict abortions. All four laws are facing opposition in court.

When asked what she would say to the Texas women, Daniels said her position is not complex.

"I'm concerned first and foremost with the life of the unborn child."

Words in This Story

incest - n. sexual intercourse13 between people who are very closely related

schedule - v. to plan (something) at a certain time

pill - n. a small, rounded object that you swallow and that contains medicine, vitamins, etc.

surgery - n. medical treatment in which a doctor cuts into someone's body in order to repair or remove damaged or diseased parts

journalist - n. the activity or job of collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

first and foremost - n. at the most basic level


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 abortion ZzjzxH     
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 pregnancy lPwxP     
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 unemployed lfIz5Q     
adj.失业的,没有工作的;未动用的,闲置的
参考例句:
  • There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
  • The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。
4 abortions 4b6623953f87087bb025549b49471574     
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
5 rape PAQzh     
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。
6 pregnancies 2fedeb45162c233ee9e28d81888a2d2c     
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。
7 opposition eIUxU     
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。
8 supreme PHqzc     
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。
9 coalition pWlyi     
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合
参考例句:
  • The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
  • Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
10 trump LU1zK     
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。
11 administrator SJeyZ     
n.经营管理者,行政官员
参考例句:
  • The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
  • He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。
12 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
13 intercourse NbMzU     
n.性交;交流,交往,交际
参考例句:
  • The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
  • There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。