原文譯文
*註：本文摘自11月19日《經濟學人》
Pleasing no one
無人滿意
South Korea’s government is making it easier to get an abortion
韓國政府簡化流產手續
Feminists do not think its proposal goes far enough. Opponents of abortion are alsoup in arms
女權主義者認為這些政策還遠遠不夠，反對流產人士也對此強烈不滿
1. THE WORST thing about it was the shame. 「I worried about how other people would judge me for doing something illegal, what my parents and my friends would say if they found out,」 says Kim Min-kyoung, a 24-year-old student from Seoul who decided toterminate a pregnancylast year. The second-worst thing was paying: how to find $1,000 without prompting awkward questions.
對於流產來說，最可怕的是隨之而來的恥辱。Kim Min-kyoung來自首爾，現年24歲，去年，她決定去做流產手術。她說，「我擔心的是人們會如何看我，擔心我的父母和朋友會如何看我，因為流產是不合法的。」關於流產，還有一件可怕的事情，那就是費用。如何在不引起任何棘手問題的情況下攢到1000美元手術費這是一個問題。
2. Both these problems should soon be slightly less severe for women in South Korea. If a bill under consideration by the National Assembly becomes law, a woman will be able to obtain an abortion up to 14 weeks into a pregnancy with ease. From 15 to 24 weeks in, she will still be able to do so provided she attends a counselling session and waits 24 hours before making a final decision. Her reason for ending the pregnancy must also fall into one of a series of approved categories. This regime would greatly expand access to abortion and thusput an end toexpensive illicit procedures. It has prompted an unsurprisingbacklashfrom anti-abortion activists, but feminists are not entirely happy either.
在不久的將來，這兩個問題對韓國女性來說都會有所改善。國民議會正在審議一項法案，如果獲準通過，那麼，女性就能夠在懷孕14周內完成墮胎。在懷孕14到24周後，在完成諮詢24小時後，也能獲準墮胎。女性終止妊娠必須是基於法律中提到的那些原因。這一制度將會大大減輕墮胎限制，從而結束墮胎非法且昂貴的舊時代。這引起了反墮胎活動人士的強烈反對，女權主義者也對此不太滿意。
3. A new law became necessary last year after the constitutional courtstruck downthe existing one, which allows abortion only in exceptional circumstances, such as for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Otherwise itstipulatesprison terms or hefty fines for women seeking abortions and for doctors providing them. That is out of step with public opinion. Ten years ago more than half of South Koreans wanted to keep the old law. Nowadays nearly 60% of the population and more than three-quarters of women under the age of 45 want toscrapit. The authorities have hardly enforced it for years.
去年，憲法法庭廢除了舊的墮胎法案，現在迫切需要一部新的法律。舊法案只允許特定情況下的墮胎，如因強姦或者亂倫而懷孕的情況。除此之外，舊法案還對那些想要墮胎的女性處以巨額罰款甚至是監禁的懲罰，對那些實施墮胎的醫生也不例外。這和公眾意見相悖了。十年前，超過一半韓國人認同舊法案，如今，百分之六十的韓國人和超過四分之三的45歲以下的女性想要廢除舊法案。而當局多年來一直式形舊法。
4. The court set a deadline of the end of this year for new legislation. But the bill is under attack from two sides. Feminists think it does not go far enough in itsaffirmationof women’s rights. Opponents of abortion, meanwhile, claim it 「promotes」 the termination of pregnancies.
最高法院要求今年年底前完成修法。但是，該法案遭到了來自兩方面的攻擊。女權主義者認為該法案在維護女性權利方面做得還不夠，而反墮胎人士則認為該法案「宣傳」墮胎。
5. Kwon In-sook, a prominent feminist and lawmaker for the ruling Minjoo party, thinks the lawfalls shortbecause it would continue to treat abortion as a criminal matter, retaining too much of the spirit of itspredecessor. 「The old law was centred around the idea that abortion is a shameful, sinful thing,」 she says. 「The point of the new law is to put women’s reproductive rights at the centre and treat abortion as the medical procedure that it is.」 She worries that the 「socio-economic reasons」 for which abortions are permitted after 14 weeks are too vaguely defined, and that the counselling requirement, the 24 hours of 「thinking time」 and doctors』 right to refuse to perform the procedure if they have personalqualmswill provide scope for opponents of abortion to restrict access.
著名女權主義者、執政黨共同民主黨議員權仁淑(Kwon In-sook，音譯)認為，該法案存在不足之處，因為它仍將墮胎視為違法，保留了太多舊法裡面的內容。她說:「舊法認為，墮胎是可恥的，是有罪的。新法的要點是把婦女的生育權利視為要點，將墮胎視為一種醫療手術，而不是犯罪。」她擔心由於「社會經濟原因」,允許懷孕後14周墮胎的定義太模糊，而要求完成諮詢，思考24小時，允許醫生在個人顧慮的情況下拒絕實施墮胎手術等規定將為反墮胎人士提供理由。
6. That is precisely what they are trying to do. 「The point is to balance the woman’s right to choose with the fetus’s right to live and to create an environment where women will feel safe in their choice to have the baby rather than an abortion,」 says Jeong Eun-yi, a 27-year-old activist who says she took up the cause after seeing a plastic model of a ten-week-old fetus. She would prefer to retain the old law, but says the bill has some potentially helpful features. 「Themandatorycounselling session shouldn’t be neutral, but push women to have the baby,」 she says, for instance by making women listen to the fetus’s heartbeat or making them watch videos of abortions.
這正是反墮胎人士正在做的。Jeong Eun-yi 現年27歲，在看到一個10周大的塑料胚胎模型之後，她決定不再墮胎。她說，「問題的關鍵是如何平衡婦女選擇生育的權利以及如何讓女性覺得她們選擇生下孩子是有保障的，而不是讓她們選擇墮胎。」她更傾向於保留舊法案，但是她也認為新法案有其有益之處。她說，「強制諮詢不該保持中立，而應該說服女性生下孩子。」比如，讓她們聽聽孩子的心跳或者讓她們觀看墮胎的視頻。
7. To feminists, the fact that such measures may be possible suggests that the government ispanderingto conservatives. 「They have to focus more on the right to choose,」 says Kim Ye-eun, a 25-year-old student and activist. 「Keeping all these ancient provisions is a bad sign that they’re not taking women’s rights seriously.」
在女權主義者看來，政府就是在迎合保守派。25歲的Kim Ye-eun 是一名學生，同時也是一名活動人士，她說，「政府必須得關注女性選擇的權利，但是政府選擇保留這些古老的規定是一個不好的信號，這意味著政府並沒有認真對待女性的權力問題。」
8. Ms Kwon, for her part, is concerned by the conservative backlash the bill has prompted. She worries that it may revive the authorities』 appetite to enforce whatever restrictions remain in law. But she is glad that the debate has at least made women less ashamed to discuss their experience with abortion.
權仁淑擔心該法案會引起保守派反彈。她擔心這可能會導致當局執行法律中的所有規定。但讓她高興的是，至少，這場討論使得女性在談及墮胎的時候沒有那麼羞愧了。
精讀解析
篇章結構
P1：女性流產面臨的兩個問題：羞恥感和昂貴的費用。
P2：法律對女性墮胎問題的改善：允許女性在某些條件下墮胎。
P3：修改法案的原因：舊法案過時了。
P4—P8：女權主義者和反墮胎人士對新法案的看法：女權主義者認為新法案不夠激進，而反墮胎認識則認為新法案在宣傳墮胎，她們認為政府不應該鼓勵墮胎。
P9：此次法案修改確實帶來了一些改變：人們對墮胎不再那麼難以啟齒。
重點單詞
up in arms竭力反對；進行武裝鬥爭
【例句】
Environmental groups are up in arms.
然而，環保組織對此表示強烈不滿。
terminate a pregnancy終止妊娠；墮胎
【例句】
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.
現在美國已經有四個州全州只有一個墮胎診所，使得合法終止妊娠這一權利只空於理論，卻無實踐。
put an end to結束，終止, 廢除
【例句】
His death puts an end to her misery.
他的死結束了她的苦難。
backlash/'b kl / n. 強烈反應, 對抗性反應；後衝, 反撞; 後坐力
【例句】
A modest backlash is under way, in an unexpected quarter.
溫和反彈正以一個讓人意想不到的方式進行。
strike down殺死；擊倒；取消
【例句】
He was struck down by cancer at the age of thirty.
他三十歲那年被癌症奪去了性命。
stipulate/'st pj le t/ vt. (尤指在協議或建議中)規定, 約定, 講明(條件等)
【例句】
This stipulation comes within the terms of your contract.
此規定合乎你的合同項目。
scrap/skr p/n. 殘餘物；碎片；打架；少量vt. 使解體；廢棄；拆毀adj. 廢棄的；零碎的
【例句】
She creates sculptures out of scrap materials.
她利用廢舊材料進行雕塑創作。
affirmation/ f 'me ( )n/ n. 肯定；確認；證實；批准；(不經宣誓而作的)證詞
【例句】
The Director is awaiting the Board’s affirmation of his nominee.
董事長在等待董事會批准他提名的候選人。
fall short不符合標準
fell short of 沒打中目標，不夠長
fall short of 達不到；缺乏
【例句】
Environmentalists say both measures fall short of what is needed.
環保人士說，這兩個措施都達不到要求。
predecessor/'pri d ses / n. 前任, 前輩；(被取代的)原有事物, 前身
【例句】
The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation.
新政府正著手廢除其前任所制定的法律。
qualm/kwɑ m/ n. 疑慮；不安
【例句】
He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.
他沒有對於從朋友那裡借錢感到不安。
mandatory/'m nd t( )r / adj. 命令的;強制的;義務的
【例句】
A reply to this letter is mandatory.
這封信非答覆不可。
pander/'p nd / vi. 勾引；迎合；慫恿；拉皮條； 為…拉皮條n. 慫恿者；拉皮條者；老鴇
【例句】
His films never pandered to public taste.
他的電影從不迎合公眾的口味。
- THE END -
堅持就會有收穫！