【经济学人】联邦资金被禁止用于与堕胎相关的事务丨2017.01.28丨总第800期

ONE ritual has become familiar for a president’s first week in the Oval Office. It has long been illegal for federal money to be used to fund abortions anywhere. On January 23rd, four days into his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order that bans government aid to foreign non-governmental organisations that “actively promote” abortion, for example by telling a woman that abortion is a legally available option. Since 1984, when the policy first came about, it has been swiftly revoked by incoming Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republican ones.

历届美国总统在就任第一周里都要进行一项“仪式”。长期以来，联邦资金都被禁止用于资助任何地区与堕胎相关的事务。1月23日，唐纳德·特朗普在其就任美国总统第四天的时候签署了一项总统令，禁止政府对“积极提倡（例如向女性告知堕胎合法）”堕胎的外国非政府组织提供官方援助。自1984年该政令首次出台起，它就备受争议。继任的民主党总统不断将其废除，而共和党总统却总会把它恢复。

• Ritual：n. 仪式；惯例

• executive order：（美国总统颁布的具有法律效能的）行政命令

• Reinstate：vt. 使恢复；使复原

Past experience suggests that this “global gag rule” will lead to more abortions, not fewer. A study by researchers at Stanford University found that after the policy came into effect in 2001, the abortion rate increased sharply in sub-Saharan African countries that had been receiving substantial amounts of aid for fa mily-planning programmes. By contrast, the abortion rate remained stable in countries that were less dependent on such aid (see chart).

根据以往经验来看，这项“全球计划生育遏制政策”将导致堕胎率升高，而非降低。斯坦福大学研究人员进行的一项调查显示，这项政策在2001年施行之后，得到计划生育计划实质性援助的撒哈拉以南非洲国家中堕胎率急剧上升。与之相反的是，对此类援助依赖性较小的国家中堕胎率仍保持稳定（见附表）。

• Sub-Saharan：adj. 撒哈拉沙漠以南的

• Family-planning：n. 计划生育

The study, as well as anecdotal accounts and research by NGOs, suggest that abortions rose because of cuts in the supply of contraceptives . In many poor countries NGOs funded by Western governments are big providers of contraceptives, and many fall foul of the Mexico City policy (named after the population conference at which it was first unveiled). Some provide abortions, others just information on where a safe, legal abortion can be obtained. Both can be life-saving: many women die from botched abortions, even in countries where abortion is legal. Some NGOs have chosen to close clinics rather than accept money with the new strings.