Not more than a month ago, Governor Bob McDonnell signed a law that requires women to have an abdominal ultrasound exam before undergoing the abortion. As you are aware of, there have been numerous protests and arrests due to this new legislation that will take effect in July.
The law was put in place with the purpose of giving more information of what is exactly is going on in their bodies. Gov. Bob McDonnell said on a radio show, "I think it gives full information...To be able to have that information before making what most people would say is a very important, serious, life-changing decision, I think is appropriate."(slate) It is important to inform patients of their bodies but it definitely should be a choice. Currently, six states require physicians to perform an ultrasound before every abortion. In addition, two states have laws requiring ultrasounds before abortions that are currently unenforceable until a court decision (Guttmacher). This new law has sparked the attention of many of us citizens for many serious reasons.
The first issue is the ineffectiveness of the procedure. One of the main goals of having the ultrasound is to discourage the woman from going through the procedure. A study done in British Columbia had astonishing results. The study was done to see if ultrasound image would alter the decision of the women. Of the women who viewed the images, 86.3 percent said that it was actually a positive experience and none of the women refrained from the abortion. Abortions are done in the first trimester which in most cases the fetus has undetectable features. “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 was really the picture of the ultrasound that made me feel it was O.K.” (NY TIMES). Aside from the images not changing the minds of the women, the ultrasound is ineffective in the sense that it is not required for medical purposes. The National Abortion Federation sets quality standards for abortion providers. NAF does not require ultrasounds to be done during the first trimester but many clinics do in order to identify the age which helps to determine the proper procedure. Having an ultrasound does not change the mind of the women and is not a required procedure medically. There is no concrete reason for an ultrasound to be enforced.
The second reason I believe the ultrasound law is unnecessary is because the cost of abortions and the affect that will have on the citizens of