Abortion; person shall undergo ultrasound imaging and view image of her fetus. (SB1435)

Introduced By

Sen. Ralph Smith (R-Roanoke)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Informed consent includes ultrasound to determine gestation age.  Requires that, as a component of informed consent to an abortion, to determine gestation age, every pregnant female shall undergo ultrasound imaging and be given an opportunity to view the ultrasound image of her fetus prior to the abortion. Read the Bill »

Status

02/03/2011: Failed to Pass in Committee

History

DateAction
01/21/2011Presented and ordered printed 11103963D
01/21/2011Referred to Committee on Education and Health
01/27/2011Impact statement from DPB (SB1435)
02/03/2011Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (11-Y 4-N) (see vote tally)

Duplicate Bills

The following bills are identical to this one: HB2433.

Comments

Waldo Jaquith writes:

So...Sen. Smith is pro-choice? Because showing women ultrasounds of fetuses actually increases abortion rates. A two-month-old fetus doesn't look like a human. To quote from the linked Times piece:

“It just looked like a little egg, and I couldn’t see arms or legs or a face,” said Tiesha, 27, who chose to view her 8-week-old embryo before aborting it at the Birmingham clinic. “It was really the picture of the ultrasound that made me feel it was O.K.”

Also, from one of the studies conducted on the topic:

In one of the few studies of the issue — there have been none in the United States — two abortion clinics in British Columbia found that 73 percent of patients wanted to see an image if offered the chance. Eighty-four percent of the 254 women who viewed sonograms said it did not make the experience more difficult, and none reversed her decision.

Sen. Smith might want to learn about this, rather than just hopping on the bandwagon; it's not going where he thinks it's going.

stephen writes:

I wonder how many adopted kids Sen.Smith has. If this law passes, I feel the government should have to pay for the ultra sound.