在中期选举前的数周里，我们看到对生殖健康保健的攻击变得更加广泛和危险，州和联邦层面的反堕胎政客试图在全国范围内禁止使用一种关键的堕胎药物。中期选举是反击的关键时刻。但候选人能胜任这项任务吗？
In the weeks leading up to the midterm elections, we have seen attacks on reproductive health care become broader and more dangerous as anti-abortion politicians at the state and federal levels seek to ban access to a key abortion medication nationwide. The midterms offer a key moment to fight back. But are candidates up to the task?
过去，在“让美国再次伟大”运动尚未成气候之时，“支持选择权的共和党人”曾是共和党内的一个重要组成部分。如今，只有两位共和党参议员甚至声称支持堕胎权。众议院中则一个也没有。联邦选举委员会去年对“支持选择权的共和党人”的申报显示，他们仅筹集了区区2.3万美元，年末手头现金只有4900美元。“支持选择权的共和党人”如今更像是一个笑柄，而非政治行动委员会。
Back in the day, before MAGA was a thing, Republicans for Choice was a substantial element of the Republican Party. Today, just two Republican senators even purport to support abortion rights. There are none in the House. Federal Election Commission reporting last year for Republicans for Choice disclosed that they raised a paltry $23,000 and ended the year with $4,900 in cash on hand. Republicans for Choice now is more a punchline than a PAC.
参议员苏珊·柯林斯（共和党-缅因州）的连任竞选令人看着实在不舒服。尽管她继续宣称自己在堕胎问题上支持选择权，但她仍然坚持自己投票确认布雷特·卡瓦诺大法官及其他反堕胎法官的决定。在州一级寻找支持合法堕胎的共和党候选人可能更加困难。佛蒙特州州长菲尔·斯科特（共和党）可能是唯一的一位。
Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-Maine) campaign for reelection is downright uncomfortable to watch. While she continues to proclaim she is pro-choice on abortion, she continues to stand by her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh and other anti-abortion judges. Finding Republican candidates for office at the state level who support legal abortion can be even more challenging. Vermont’s Gov. Phil Scott (R) might be the only one.
这对任何认为保护生殖自由是优先事项的人来说都构成了一个问题。我们只剩下一个追求我们选票的对象：民主党。
That presents a problem for anyone who believes that protecting reproductive freedom is a priority. We are left with one suitor for our votes: the Democratic Party.
民调证实，大多数美国人认为全国范围内应当有获得合法堕胎的途径。对妊娠头三个月内堕胎的支持率压倒性高涨，对妊娠后期堕胎的支持率也相当不错。此外，四分之一的女性一生中会堕胎。个人即政治。然而，民主党人在竞选活动中却避讳使用“那个A开头的词”。
Polling confirms that the majority of Americans believe there should be access to legal abortion nationwide. Support is overwhelming for abortion through the first trimester, and not too shabby for later in pregnancy. Moreover, one in four women will have an abortion in her lifetime. The personal is political. Yet Democrats shy away from using the “A-word” on the campaign trail.
在得克萨斯州，州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科（民主党）一直公开支持堕胎权，他在自己的网站上将其列为“自由—家庭—信仰”纲领的一部分，并在最近的一场辩论中强调《圣经》并未对堕胎作出论述。但他并未主动将此作为竞选议题。塔拉里科的对手、得州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿自“罗诉韦德案”被推翻以来，一直像一只狂躁的浣熊一样猛烈攻击生殖权利。距离选举已不足两周，塔拉里科对合法堕胎途径的支持应当走出阴影，进入聚光灯下。
In Texas, state Rep. James Talarico (D) has been open about his support for abortion rights, noting it as part of his freedom-family-faith platform on his website and underscoring in a recent debate that the Bible does not comment on abortion. But he has not proactively made it an issue of his campaign. Talarico’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has been going after reproductive rights like a rabid raccoon since the fall of Roe v. Wade. With fewer than two weeks until the election, Talarico’s support for legal access to abortion should come out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
得州州长格雷格·阿博特（共和党）同样强烈反对堕胎，与他的州长挑战者吉娜·希诺霍萨（民主党）形成鲜明对比。然而她关于这一议题的竞选广告——嗯，并不完全是关于这一议题。希诺霍萨讲述了自己怀孕期间的并发症和非常艰难的失去，却没有说明她的选择在今天的得州将不再是一个选项。这让支持者们感到困惑和失望。
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), also vehemently anti-abortion, stands in sharp contrast to his challenger for governor, Gina Hinojosa (D). Yet her campaign ad on the issue was — well, not exactly on the issue. Hinojosa spoke about her own pregnancy complications and very difficult loss without acknowledging that her choice would not be an option today in Texas. She left supporters baffled and disappointed.
公开支持堕胎权是一种制胜策略。全国各州几乎所有旨在扩大堕胎权的公投措施都以压倒性多数获得通过，而目前四个州的公投措施中，堕胎权的胜算看起来不错。在候选人强调扩大或维护堕胎途径的选举中，这已成为他们通往胜利的道路。
Coming out in support of abortion rights is a winning strategy. Nearly every ballot measure seeking to expand abortion rights in states across the nation has been overwhelmingly passed and the abortion-rights odds look good on four states’ ballot measures now. Elections in which candidates have emphasized increasing or preserving access to abortion has been a path to victory for them.
纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔（民主党）在选举前有一个机会，来表明她在生殖权利问题上无愧于自己的英雄斗篷。一项等待她签署的法案将为纽约临床医生提供保护，使他们能够继续提供一种关键的堕胎和流产处理药物——米非司酮——尽管联邦政府对该药物加以攻击。
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has a pre-election opportunity to show she has earned her hero’s cape when it comes to reproductive rights. Legislation awaiting her signature would provide protections for New York clinicians to continue to provide an essential abortion and miscarriage management medication — mifepristone — despite the federal government’s attacks on it.
在特朗普总统任命了三名强烈反对堕胎的最高法院大法官之后，民主党领导的众议院在有机会采取行动时却未能行动。我们可以而且应该要求更多。因为如果我们不这样做，民主党人可能也不会为我们兑现承诺。
After President Trump appointed three vehemently anti-abortion Supreme Court justices, the Democrat-led house failed to act when they had their chance. We can and should demand more. Because if we don’t, Democrats may not deliver for us either.
我们最近目睹了这一点：加利福尼亚州州长、民主党人加文·纽森是堕胎权的坚定支持者，却令人失望地否决了一项法案，该法案本会让他支持并签署的远程医疗堕胎保护法在他离任后依然保持强有力的效力。我们可以而且应该对前卫生与公众服务部长、民主党人泽维尔·贝塞拉的竞选抱有更高期待。
We witnessed this recently as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a staunch supporter of abortion rights, disappointingly vetoed a bill that would have kept strong the telemedicine abortion shield law he supported and signed even after he leaves office. We can and should expect more from former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s (D) campaign.
如今，正值选举季的高峰期，政府的权力掮客们需要将堕胎权列为优先事项。这是一个能激励更多选民前往投票站投票的制胜策略。我们必须保持警惕，不能把阵地让给一个从不松懈关注的反堕胎少数群体。
Now, during the height of election season, government powerbrokers need to prioritize abortion rights. It is a winning strategy that will inspire more voters to turn out at the voting booth. We must be vigilant and not cede ground to an anti-abortion minority that never stops paying attention.
朱莉·F·凯是一名人权律师，也是“生育未来”的创始人兼首席执行官，并与他人合著了《控制女性：我们现在必须做什么来拯救生育自由》。
Julie F. Kay, a human rights attorney, is the founder and CEO of Reproductive Futures and co-author of “Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom.“