Brutal, Mean-Spirited, Ignorance.

Right now, 112 members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have co-sponsored legislation that would make it mandatory for an abortion provider to show the woman having the procedure an ultrasound image before they are allowed to provide the abortion. Philadelphia Weekly provides the details:

The bill requires all women seeking an abortion get an ultrasound at least 24 hours before their procedure, believing perhaps if a woman is able to see an image of the fetus and hear a heartbeat, she will change her mind. Exceptions are provided in the cases of rape, incest, medical emergencies and for fetuses that are less than eight weeks along.

Oddly, the bill is named “The Women’s Right to Know Act” and according to its own language, requires “certain reports to be filed with the Department of Health; imposing administrative sanctions and criminal penalties; and providing for remedies.”

“Many women are unaware of the state of development of their unborn child,” says the bill without citation. Therefore, all who seek an abortion in Pennsylvania will be required to, “[a]t least 24 hours before an abortion is to be performed, [get] an ultrasound test which produces an ultrasound image shall be performed upon the patient by or for the physician who is to perform the abortion or the referring physician.”

The 112 co-sponsors is enough to pass the bill through the House of Representatives.

Josephs believes this legislation is designed to further shut down women’s health facilities throughout the state. The bill is very specific about what physicians need to do (for instance, says Josephs, while the physician is providing the ultrasound, s/he is required to pay attention to the woman to see if she changes her mind about the abortion; not the results of the test) and if any rules outlined in the bill’s 17 pages are missed, “the attorney general is empowered to seek an injunction against the provider. And the injunction will shut down the facility,” Josephs says.

The bill has requirements for both the individual performing the ultrasound and the doctor who performs the abortion, perhaps to intimidate the woman into changing her mind each step of the way.

The individual performing the ultrasound test, reads the bill, will be required to, “Position the screen so that the patient is able to view the ultrasound test in its entirety, with a view of her unborn child, while that test is being conducted to determine gestational age,” although, “The patient is not required to view the screen.” And two prints, in separate envelopes, of the ultrasound image will be provided to the woman seeking the abortion and the doctor performing the abortion, though the woman seeking the abortion is not required to open the envelope.

The doctor performing the abortion must also tell the woman how old the fetus is and if its heart rate is normal.

Last week, hundreds of protesters showed up in Harrisburg against a series of bills that would tighten requirements on women’s health clinics. Harrisburg either hasn’t taken the hint, or have decided to tweek the nose of those protestors who got up in their business.

Similar bills have been passed in Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas. In some states, the bills have been held up either by the governor or the courts due to legal factors relating to the invasion of privacy.

Ok, so now that you've got that- why? Without any evidence, they assert in the bill that most women seeking abortions have no idea what they are getting into. What evidence is there of that? In fact, most women do, and really don't want to have the abortion, but do for reasons they feel are beyond their control. I'm personally of the mind I would want a kid in that situation, but it is not my choice to make. It is their choice to make. We have settled law on this subject, even if you do not like it.

For the most part, when a woman shows up at an abortion clinic, she has made the choice she sees fit. Sure, there are some who change their minds, and some who are underage and haven't spoken to their adult figures (and sometimes shouldn't), but for the most part, they know what they are going to do. Having an abortion is probably the most awful, difficult decision any woman would ever have to make in her life. Period. This bill is simply being created as a means to further harass these women. What is the evidence that they don't know what they're doing? This is sick, twisted, and wrong. If you want to stop abortion, stop it by attacking the reasons it happens, not attacking the women it happens to.