经济学人下载:美国堕胎问题 重返公堂(上)

Leaders Abortion in America Back in court
社论精粹 美国堕胎问题 重返公堂

It may poison the 2016 election, but the Supreme Court should strike down Texas's restrictive abortion law
堕胎问题的争论或许会阻碍2016年大选，但最高法院应该驳回德州的限制堕胎法案

AS if next year's presidential election were not shaping up to be contentious enough, the Supreme Court has picked 2016 to issue its most consequential ruling on abortion in 20 years.
美国明年总统大选的争议似乎还不够，最高法院也来凑凑热闹，竟决定在2016年对堕胎问题做出20年来最重要的裁决。

This will add fresh impetus to a cultural battle that has raged, unresolved, on America's national stage for almost half a century.
此举将为堕胎与反堕胎的论战注入新动力，这场文化道德斗争在美国国家政治舞台上活跃了将近半个世纪，愈演愈烈，至今仍悬而未决。

That is regrettable.
斗争虽令人遗憾，

It is also necessary.
但也是必要的。

At issue is whether a law passed by the Texas legislature called HB2 is constitutional.
现在问题的争议点在于德克萨斯州议会通过的一项名为HB2的法案是否符合宪法。

The state has piled regulations on abortion clinics with the aim (so far rather successful) of closing them down.
德州政府针对堕胎诊所颁布了大量政策条规，目的就在于整垮它们（目前战绩相当不错）。

The number of such clinics in the state has dropped from 41 in 2012 to 18 at the last count.
最新数据显示，德州的堕胎诊所数量由2012年的41间逐渐减至18间。

If the court rules next year that HB2 is constitutional, that number will shrink further.
如果明年最高法院判定HB2符合宪法条陈，那么诊所的数量将进一步锐减。

Other states keen to restrict legal access to abortion would follow suit.
其他热衷对堕胎实施法律约束的州将效仿此举。

Already there are four that have only one clinic for the whole state, making the legal termination of a pregnancy a right that exists in theory but not in practice.
现在美国已经有四个州全州只有一个堕胎诊所，使得合法终止妊娠这一权利只空于理论，却无实践。

A clear majority of Americans have, for decades, told pollsters that abortion should be legal in most cases.
数十年来，绝大多数美国人告诉民意调查者们，在大多数情况下堕胎应该是合法的。

More recently, a narrower majority has emerged for outlawing abortion after 20 weeks, with some exceptions.
近来，微弱多数人认为20周以后堕胎违法，特殊情况除外。

That position—access to abortion that is legal and unrestricted until late in the second trimester, with some restrictions thereafter—is not unlike the compromise reached in other countries.
妊娠中期前堕胎是合法的，不受任何限制的，之后堕胎则有法律约束，这与其他国家在堕胎问题上的折中点是类似的。

In more secular Britain abortion is banned after 24 weeks, with exceptions in cases where to continue the pregnancy would threaten the life of the mother, or where the child is likely to be severely disabled.
英国更开化，规定怀孕24周以后禁止堕胎，除非继续妊娠会危及母亲生命或胎儿很可能会重度残疾。