The U.S. Supreme Court appears ready to strike down Roe v. Wade

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court appears ready to strike down Roe² v. Wade³

Transcript⁴

A leaked draft opinion published by Politico suggests that earlier this year a majority of Supreme Court justices supported overturning the 1973 case Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion⁵ nationwide.

AMART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden is urging elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman's right to choose. The president issued that statement after the leak of a draft of a Supreme Court opinion that suggests the justices are poised⁶ to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalizes abortion in the U.S. The president said, quote, "it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November. At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies⁷ Roe." He also added "we do not know whether this draft is genuine or whether it reflects the final decision of the court." Outside of the Supreme Court last night, hundreds of people gathered in response to the news.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Abortion is health care. Abortion is health care.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Sarah McCammon covers reproductive rights. She joined us to talk about it.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE⁸: Well, I want to say, first of all, A, that NPR has not independently obtained this document, which is labeled as a first draft. But court watchers say it does appear genuine. Amy Howe is the co-founder of SCOTUSblog, which covers the Supreme Court. She says she sees no reason to doubt this document's authenticity⁹. And she says this kind of leak is highly unusual.

AMY HOWE: I think the justices are going to regard this as an enormous breach¹⁰. To have this kind of leak, not only of the results but the opinion itself, is extraordinary.

MCCAMMON: And that opinion itself, if the court ultimately issues something similar to this draft, would allow states to severely¹¹ restrict abortion. It describes Roe v. Wade as, quote, "egregiously¹² wrong from the start." And it says there is no constitutional right to an abortion.

MART?NEZ: So what's the reaction been so far?

MCCAMMON: Well, there's both a reaction to the leak and to the content itself. Now, because it's a leaked draft, groups on both sides are being a bit cautious about their reactions. But this news is certainly reverberating¹³ across the political spectrum¹⁴, and it's very much in line with what a lot of groups on either side of this issue have expected. Steve Aden is with Americans United for Life, which has sought to ban abortion in state legislatures nationwide, and he likes what he's seeing so far.

STEVE ADEN: It means simply that state lawmakers have to get to work to enact¹⁵ strong state laws and a policy to protect life across the country.

MCCAMMON: And from abortion rights advocates, there is a lot of anger and sadness about what they fear will be the court's decision. This comes after months and years, really, of warning against exactly such a potential turn of events.

MART?NEZ: Are abortion rights groups at all hopeful that the Supreme Court's final opinion might be different?

MCCAMMON: I mean, they're stressing that this is a draft and it's a leak, but I'm not overall hearing that kind of optimism. Reproductive rights groups are reminding people that, at least for now, abortion is still legal across the U.S., even if very difficult to obtain in many places. And they're watching to see what the official opinion says. As we've said, this is in line with what a lot of people have predicted from this conservative court, you know, with three justices chosen by former President Trump¹⁶. I talked to Michelle Colon¹⁷ with the reproductive rights group SHERo Mississippi. That's where this case before the Supreme Court originated. She says abortion is now seriously threatened.

MICHELLE COLON: It's the reality which we have been preparing for. We're not surprised. This will open up a floodgate to many, many of the other standing¹⁸, you know, laws that have been argued and won at the Supreme Court in regards to freedoms for Americans.

MCCAMMON: And she says this will make abortion access particularly difficult for lower income people and other marginalized groups. But she says reproductive rights groups will try to help patients get abortions¹⁹ through travel or through abortion pills.

MART?NEZ: Now, assuming these reports are correct, what happens next?

MCCAMMON: According to some estimates, more than half of states are expected to ban most or all abortions. And this will become even more a political issue, an issue in the midterm elections, certainly.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Sarah McCammon, thanks a lot.

MCCAMMON: Thank you.

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 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 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。

6 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

7 codifies   

n.把（法律）编成法典( codify的名词复数 )v.把（法律）编成法典( codify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The latest draft of the agreement codifies the panel's decision. 最新的协议草案把专家小组的决定加以整理，形成了条文。 来自辞典例句
• The law that codifies evil is the essence of lawlessness. 肯定坏事的法律实质上等于无法。 来自互联网

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

10 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 egregiously   

adv.过份地，卓越地

参考例句：

• But previous Greek governments egregiously violated those limits. 但之前几届希腊政府都严重违反了这些限制。 来自互联网

13 reverberating   

回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射

参考例句：

• The words are still ringing [reverberating] in one's ears. 言犹在耳。
• I heard a voice reverberating: "Crawl out! I give you liberty!" 我听到一个声音在回荡：“爬出来吧，我给你自由！”

14 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

15 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

16 trump   

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。

17 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 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