美国国家公共电台 NPR American Medical Association Wades Into Abortion Debate With Lawsuit

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The American Medical Association has largely stayed on the sidelines of political fights over the past 30 years or so. But a North Dakota law set to go into effect next month is spurring the doctor's group to get involved now. The law will require doctors in North Dakota to tell patients that medically induced abortions² can be reversed. Now, there's no scientific evidence to support that claim, and the AMA is taking the state to court over it and another existing abortion¹ law. Julie Rovner covers health policy at Kaiser Health News. She joins us now.

Welcome back to the program, Julie.

JULIE ROVNER: Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: We just described one of these laws. What's the other one, and why is the AMA concerned about it?

ROVNER: The other law requires physicians to tell women who are seeking an abortion that it would end the life of a whole separate, unique living human being. The AMA says that that law unconstitutionally forces physicians to act as the mouthpiece of the state. So these are two different laws in North Dakota. They're unhappy with both of them.

CORNISH: At the same time, there have been several new laws restricting abortion access across the South and Midwest. So why is the AMA getting involved now?

ROVNER: It's really interesting. You know, they've been involved on and off in sort of smaller ways. But you know, they put out a press release. They're filing lawsuits³. There's a lot of speculation⁴ as to why now. Some of it may be just they feel like these laws have finally gone too far. Some of it may be there's a woman president of the AMA and a woman past president and there'll be a woman president next year. For a group that's long been older, whiter and more male, that's changing.

CORNISH: So what kind of stance had they taken in the past?

ROVNER: Well, the AMA has been kind of everywhere on abortion. The AMA in the late 1800s led the fight to make abortion illegal in the United States. That was part of their effort to sort of centralize power over the medical profession. They wanted to get rid of unlicensed practitioners⁵ like midwives, who had traditionally been involved with women's reproductive health. And they really didn't change that position until just before Roe⁶ v. Wade⁷. And even when Roe v. Wade happened, the effort to liberalize abortion laws in the U.S. was really led by the legal profession, not by the medical profession.

CORNISH: You reached out to the American Medical Association - seems like maybe they're not so comfortable with this new stance. Can you tell us what you learned?

ROVNER: Yeah. They made clear that their problems with these laws are not about abortion per se, but about interference in the doctor-patient relationship, which is true. And that is their complaint. I would point out that there have been a number of other abortion laws or abortion regulations that they have not been so outspoken⁸ on that would have equally interfered⁹ with the doctor-patient relationship.

CORNISH: For a little more context, though, how influential¹⁰ is the American Medical Association at this point?

ROVNER: Well, they're still pretty influential in that people see that name and think, oh, the AMA - they represent doctors. But the AMA has represented a smaller percentage of doctors over the years. It is not quite as big and powerful as it used to be. But still, the brand carries some weight, and it carries some weight in Washington and in state capitals.

CORNISH: Doesn't it carry weight precisely¹¹ because people see it as apolitical? And is this jeopardizing¹² that?

ROVNER: Oh, I don't think they've ever been seen as apolitical. The AMA really led the fight against national health insurance for decades. They've always been political. Where they've been, I think, loathed¹³ to intervene is on delicate social issues like abortion.

CORNISH: In this era of increased restrictions¹⁴ on abortion, are other medical groups, other professional associations and the like, getting involved in legislative¹⁵ fights?

ROVNER: Well, the American Congress (ph) of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents most of the doctors who actually do abortions and take care of women's reproductive needs, has long been fairly outspoken on many of these laws, if not most of them. So there have been other physician groups that have stepped up to take the lead on this. There are also anti-abortion physician groups. They're much smaller, but they are out there. And they also argue the AMA has sort of preferred to step back and let the fight go on elsewhere.

CORNISH: Julie, you've been covering this area for a long time. What strikes you about this moment? I mean, is this as significant as it looks?

ROVNER: It's hard to tell. As I said, the AMA's been kind of everywhere on abortion issues. It looks like they're maybe coming out - finding this to be such a threat to the doctor-patient relationship that they're willing to take a leading role. It remains¹⁶ to be seen exactly where they will go from here.

CORNISH: That's Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News.

Thanks for coming in.

ROVNER: Thank you.

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 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

6 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？

7 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。

8 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

9 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

11 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

12 jeopardizing   

危及，损害( jeopardize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Plans may also become inefficient in the attainment of objectives by jeopardizing group satisfactions. 用危及群体利益方法去达到目标的计划，也是无效率的。
• That boosted government revenues in the short term, but is now jeopardizing them. Morales将天然气工业，电信业和部分采矿业收归国有的举措吓跑了投资者们。

13 loathed   

v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• Baker loathed going to this red-haired young pup for supplies. 面包师傅不喜欢去这个红头发的自负的傻小子那里拿原料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self! 因此，他厌恶不幸的自我尤胜其它！ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

14 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

15 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

16 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。