寄生草莓的英文俱樂部

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原文網址：A fearsome outbreak has triggered a debate about birth control

THE mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has spread to 22 countries and territories in the Americas, is terrifying to pregnant women and their partners. The virus may cause birth defects in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy. In Brazil more than 4,000 have been born with abnormally small heads since last October, compared with fewer than 200 in a typical year. The response of several governments has triggered a debate about abortion, birth control and sex education which may outlast the outbreak itself.

經由蚊蟲傳染的茲卡病毒，已經傳播到 22 個國家以及美國本土，對孕婦以及他們的伴侶造成了恐慌。一旦孕期中母體受到感染，可能會造成胎兒異常。在巴西，自去年十月以來已經有超過 4000 個小頭嬰兒的案例，相較於一般狀況每年約少於 200 個這樣的例子。這件事情在許多國家的政府已經引燃了對於墮胎、生育控治、以及性教育的爭論，這些爭議可能會比疾病本身的爆發還要久。 

It started after a handful of governments advised women to delay getting pregnant. Colombia, which has the second-highest number of infections after Brazil, advised women to wait six to eight months. Jamaica issued a similar recommendation, even though no cases of Zika have yet been reported there. El Salvador’s government suggested that women should delay pregnancy until 2018. Panama warned women from indigenous(土著) communities, in which infection rates are high, not to conceive(懷孕).

剛開始許多政府勸導婦女延遲懷孕計畫。感染率僅次於巴西的哥倫比亞政府勸導婦女再等六到八個月，國內尚無相關病例的牙買加也做出類似的建議，薩爾瓦多政府則建議婦女們到 2018 年才還運，巴拿馬政府也對感染率極高的土著社區的婦女提出不要懷孕的警告。

Some women find this advice rather bossy(跋扈). Others say that governments have done little to help women control their fertility(生育能力). Paula Avila-Guillen of the Centre for Reproductive Rights(生育權力中心), a lobby group(遊說團體) in New York, notes that rates of sexual violence and teenage pregnancy in Latin America are among the world’s highest. The Guttmacher Institute, a think-tank(智庫), found that 56% of pregnancies in Latin America and the Caribbean are unintended(非計劃的).

有些婦女覺得這些建議過於跋扈，有些人則認為政府在幫助婦女節育的事情上做得不夠。紐約的遊說團體，生育權力中心的 Paula 提到，拉丁美洲的性暴力以及未成年懷孕在全世界是最高的，一個智庫 Guttmacher 機構發現，拉丁美洲以及加勒比海地區有約 56% 的懷孕都是非計劃中的。

Rates of accidental pregnancy are high because sex education is inadequate and birth control is hard to come by. Health workers(衛生工作者) are reluctant to prescribe contraceptives(避孕藥) to teenagers or to women who have not yet given birth. If women are to avoid pregnancy, say women’s-rights activists, governments must inform them better and provide more access to contraception(避孕) for both men and women.

意外的懷孕率高通常是由於性教育的不足，生育控治也因此變得困難。衛生工作者一般不願意開避孕藥給青少年或是未曾懷孕過的婦女。一位女權運動者提到，如果婦女必須避免懷孕，政府應該更為妥善告知，並對男女雙方都提供更多的避孕管道。

Some argue that the Zika crisis should prompt countries to liberalise policies that severely restrict abortion. In El Salvador, which does not allow abortion even if a woman’s life is at risk, activists are stepping up their campaign for a change in the law. An editorial(主筆) in Folha de São Paulo, a Brazilian newspaper, argued that Brazil should end its ban on most abortions.

有些人認為，茲卡病毒造成的危機應該會促使一些嚴格禁止墮胎的國家有更開放的政策，薩爾瓦多的法令，即使婦女的生命受到威脅也禁止墮胎，相關運動者將會加緊腳步促使法令的變更。一家巴西報紙的主筆論戰認為巴西政府應該解除大部份的墮胎禁令。

Rather than calling on women to delay pregnancy, Brazil is sensibly concentrating its efforts on the real culprit(罪魁禍首), the Aedes aegypti mosquito(埃及伊蚊), which also carries dengue(登革熱) and yellow fever(黃熱病). The country had stamped out(撲滅) the menace(威脅) by 1958 but let down its guard(放鬆警戒) and allowed it to return.

與其鼓吹婦女延遲懷孕，巴西政府取而代之的措施是集中火力撲滅真正的罪魁禍首 - 埃及伊蚊。這種蚊子不僅會傳播茲卡病毒，也事登革熱和黃熱病的病媒。巴西曾經一度在 1958 年撲滅了這個威脅，但因為放鬆了戒備而使得它再度復生。

This month the health minister(衛生部長), Marcelo Castro, announced that insect repellent(殺蟲劑) will be distributed to 400,000 expectant(期望的) mothers(準媽媽) who qualify for Bolsa Família(家庭補助金), a cash-transfer scheme(現金轉移方案). Some 310,000 health workers are raising awareness(提高警覺) and teaching people how to keep mosquitoes at bay; on February 13th 220,000 soldiers will join them. Following World Health Organisation(世界謂生組織) guidelines, Brazil advises women contemplating(盤算) pregnancy on how to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes. Women need facts, not fertility targets(生育指標).

衛生部長馬塞洛·卡斯特羅這個月宣布將會把驅蟲劑分發給40萬獲得家庭補助金的準媽媽，31萬衛生工作者也提高警覺教育和教育人們如何在海灣避免蚊蟲叮咬; 2月13日將會有22萬士兵將加入他們的行列，並根據世界衛生組織的指引，教導準備懷孕的婦女如何避免蚊子叮咬。婦女們需要的是事實，而不是生育指標。