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流產 |
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美國最高法院的裁決
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1973年，美國最高法院宣佈當時美國禁止流產的法律現狀是違反憲法的(Roe v. Wade)。該法院在重申國家維護健康、維持醫學標準和保護潛在生命的同時，確認每一名婦女在3個月內的妊娠有獲得流產的權力。只有當胎兒已經發育到有存活能力(也就是在母體子宮外有能力生存)之後，國家可以繼續完全禁止流產，為挽救母親的生命或健康的目的例外。當然，這條法律的姿態決不意味著流產是值得肯定的。該國的最高法院只不過確認使流產刑事化是愚蠢之舉，此後，其他許多國家的立法機構做出了相同的結論。
那些確信流產是謀殺的人士不論居住在那裏，都仍然有自由為自己的權益反對流產。本應如此，因為強制流產與強制生育都是違背平等、自由和自主理想的。過去，這些理想大多被迫未能實現。確實，流產在那時受到了非常不平等的對待則是無法更改的事實。由於另外的州或國家有較寬鬆的法律，所以有能力支付旅費的婦女為了流產投奔到那裏，卻並未獲得如其所願的任何一種安全和合法的流產。這種“流產觀光”最終讓許多政府窘迫不已。但是，貧窮和未受教育的婦女則繼續咀嚼著非意願分娩的苦果或遭受流產刑事化的禍害。 |
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Abortion |
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The US Supreme Court Decision
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In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court declared most then existing American state laws banning abortion to be unconstitutional (Roe v. Wade). The court recognized every woman's right to obtain an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy while reaffirming the right of the state to safeguard health, maintain medical standards, and protect potential life. Only after the fetus has reached viability (i.e., the ability to survive outside the mother's womb) may a state continue to prohibit abortions altogether except for the purpose of preserving the life or health of the mother. This legal stance, of course, by no means implied that abortions were desirable. The highest court of the land merely recognized that it was unwise to make them crimes, and since then legislatures in many other countries have come to the same conclusion.
Those who are convinced that abortion is murder are still free to reject it for themselves, no matter where they live. This is entirely as it should be because
forced abortion as well as forced motherhood are incompatible with the ideals of equality, freedom, and self-determination. In the past, these ideals had to remain largely unrealized. Indeed, when it came to abortion the most blatant inequality was a fact of everyday life. Women who could pay for a trip to another state or another country with more liberal laws were not prevented from having a safe and legal abortion any time they wished. This "abortion tourism" eventually became an embarrassment for many governments. At the same time, the poor and uneducated continued to suffer the consequences of unwanted births or dangerous criminal abortions. |
