Ultrasound bill Challenged in LA Federal Court; Touted in Wash Post Column

Science tells us when life begins. The real question is when love begins. For many abortion-minded women, love began when they had the opportunity to see their unborn child on an ultrasound screen. 

Pulitzer Prize winner Kathleen Parker has focused her syndicated Washington Post column on a growing trend that has the potential to both change hearts and save lives – ultrasound before abortion legislation – an approach that recognizes that “abortion truthfully presented would eliminate itself or vastly reduce its numbers.”

The column features a bill drafted by Bioethics Defense Fund, and recently signed into law by La. Governor Jindal.  The column also touches on the newly enacted Oklahoma law that now faces a court challenge from the abortion industry.  Addressing powerful legislative testimony from post-abortive women, and women who had chosen life after viewing a free ultrasound, Parker concludes that “as an advocate for informed choice, I can’t rationalize ignorance or denial as preferable options for women in need of sound counseling. Or for a nation that wants to make abortion rare.”  

•  WASH POST: Read the concise and insightful Washington Post column featuring BDF.
  
   
• READ THE BILL: Read the BDF-drafted “Ultrasound Before Abortion” bill signed into law by La. Governor Jindal.

BILL SUMMARY:

The BDF/La. law gives every woman seeking abortion two chances to choose life: 

1.  At least 24 hours before an abortion, the woman must receive from the abortion provider a list of places that offer FREE ULTRASOUND SERVICES.  This list will be compiled by the State’s Department of Health, and will include mainly pro-life pregnancy care centers. 

2.  If the woman returns, the abortion provider must perform an ultrasound at least 2 hours before the abortion to determine fetal viability and issues related to the woman’s health.  At that ultrasound, the woman must be read a script that gives her three options:

  – The option to view the ultrasound screen

  – The option to hear an explanation of the images

  – The option to get a print out of the image of her unborn child

 These options are offered by a script that the ultrasound tech must read to the woman in the examination room prior to the beginning of the ultrasound examination.  (BDF drafted the script so that the abortionist could not negatively influence the woman by saying things such as, “You don’t want to see this, do you?”)

Because the ultrasound provisions are amended into the currently existing “Woman’s Right to Know” law, the abortionist will be subject to civil and criminal penalties if the woman is denied these options. 

The script is included in the bill, which can be read here: http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=723252

  Legislators and policy makers who want to pursue ultrasound legislation in their state may contact BDF Senior Counsel Dorinda Bordlee at 504-231-7234 or  dbordlee@bdfund.org.

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