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US Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Ending Abortion Right

时间:2022-12-08 02:24:37

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(单词翻译)

US Supreme1 Court Overturns Roe2 v. Wade3, Ending Abortion4 Right

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established the constitutional right for women to choose to have an abortion.

Abortion is a medical operation that ends a pregnancy5. Friday's ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans or restrictions6 in about half of the states in the country.

The decision

The court, in a six to three ruling, upheld a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The vote was five to four to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the court's opinion for the conservative majority. He wrote, "We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly7 protected by any constitutional provision." Planned Parenthood v. Casey is a 1992 court decision that confirmed abortion rights in the country.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that he upheld the Mississippi law but did not want to overturn the 1973 decision. He noted8 that the "ruling is unnecessary to decide the case before us."

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan disagreed with the majority's ruling. They wrote, "With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent9."

To dissent means to disagree with an official opinion.

The three dissenting10 justices noted that with the decision, "... a woman has no rights to speak of. A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs."

State laws

Thirteen American states, mainly in the South and Midwest, already have laws that ban abortion in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned. The Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights, says 26 American states are likely to ban abortion without Roe.

Some states, including Texas and Oklahoma, permit private citizens to bring civil legal cases against anyone who assists a woman seeking an abortion.

States controlled by the Democratic Party such as California, Connecticut and Washington have passed laws to protect people who provide or seek abortions12 from legal action.

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade came even though a large number of Americans say that they support abortion rights. In a public opinion study carried out in March of this year, the Pew Research Center found that 61 percent of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Thirty-seven percent said they think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

The center said its numbers have not changed much in the past few years. Support for abortion rights is much higher, at 80 percent, among those who identified as Democrats13 or who support Democrats. The center said 38 percent of Republicans and their supporters approve of abortion.

Reactions

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat11, said the decision is part of a Republican Party plan to take away a "women's right to make their own reproductive health decisions."

In a statement, Pelosi said, "In the Congress, Republicans are plotting a nationwide abortion ban. In the states, Republicans want to arrest doctors for offering reproductive care and women for terminating a pregnancy."

Mike Pence, the former Republican Vice-President under Donald Trump14, said on Twitter, "Today, Life Won." The long-time abortion rights opponent then called for abortion to be banned across the country. Pence wrote, "... we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land."

Overturning Roe v. Wade has long been a goal of Christian15 conservatives and many Republicans.

As a Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump promised in 2016 that he would appoint justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. As president, Trump appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. They were part of the majority that overturned the decision on Friday.

Abortions in the U.S., around the world

Both the Guttmacher Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , or CDC, say legal abortions have generally decreased in the U.S.

Guttmacher recorded more than 1.5 million abortions in 1991, about two-thirds more than the 930,160 it reported for 2020. The CDC reported just over 1 million abortions in 1991 and 629,898 in 2019.

Worldwide, the World Health Organization said about 73 million abortions take place yearly. The health organization calls it "a common health intervention16" and "a critical public health and human rights issue."

Words in This Story

reference –n. the act of mentioning something in speech or in writing

implicitly –adv. understood but not clearly or directly stated

terminating –n. the act of causing the end of something

relent –v. to agree to do or accept something that you have been resisting or opposing

sanctity –n. the quality of being holy, very important or valuable


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1 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。
2 roe LCBzp     
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 nMgzu     
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 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。
5 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。
6 restrictions 81e12dac658cfd4c590486dd6f7523cf     
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
7 implicitly 7146d52069563dd0fc9ea894b05c6fef     
adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地
参考例句:
  • Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
  • I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想,我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧?
8 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
9 dissent ytaxU     
n./v.不同意,持异议
参考例句:
  • It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
  • He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。
10 dissenting kuhz4F     
adj.不同意的
参考例句:
  • He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
  • A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。
11 democrat Xmkzf     
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员
参考例句:
  • The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
  • About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后,他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。
12 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
13 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 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。
15 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
16 intervention e5sxZ     
n.介入,干涉,干预
参考例句:
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

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