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DEL.ICIO.USUltrasound bill passes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A woman seeking an abortion who undergoes an ultrasound must be offered the chance to see the fetal image and hear the fetal heartbeat under a bill that gained final approval by the Georgia General Assembly late Friday.
Earlier, House Bill 147 seemed to be in trouble after the Senate failed to approve a revised version of the measure that caught some lawmakers off-guard. But a committee of House and Senate lawmakers ironed out the wrinkles, and the bill now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue for consideration.
The final version of HB 147 is clear in its intent to discourage women from having abortions.
The bill states that in all cases in which a pregnant woman is seeking an abortion, a medical provider must offer her a chance to view the fetal image and hear the fetal heart before the pregnancy is terminated.
“The bill now assumes that everyone seeking an abortion will be given an ultrasound,” said state Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville), who has argued for the measure in the Senate. “Most doctors, hospitals, even abortion clinics give the ultrasound. They want to know the gestational period of the baby for their own protection.”
Several different proposals related to ultrasounds for women seeking abortions have floated through both the House and Senate this year. One early version of the bill would have required medical providers to perform an ultrasound on a woman seeking an abortion.
Then, lawmakers changed the bill to require medical providers to simply offer a woman an ultrasound.
The final version of HB 147 states that the ultrasound should “contain the dimensions of the unborn child, and accurately portray the presence of external members and internal organs, including but not limited to the heartbeat, if present or viewable, of the unborn child.”
The bill also stipulates that prior to an abortion, the woman must certify in writing whether she decided to view the sonogram and listen to the fetal heartbeat, if present.
The ultrasound measure also states that its purpose is to:
• “Ensure that every woman considering an abortion receive complete information on the reality and status of her pregnancy”
• “Protect unborn children from a woman’s uninformed decision to have an abortion;”
• “Reduce the risk that a woman may elect an abortion, only to discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that her decision was not fully informed.”
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By Caroline Rodgers
May 1, 2007 9:47 AM | Link to this
This well-intentioned legislation may have dire consequences for women who undergo prenatal ultrasounds. To be fully informed, women should be warned that — contrary to prevailing medical opinion — prenatal ultrasound is not without risk and may be responsible for the increase in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders(see March 15, 2007, New York Times “New Jersey Assembly Considers Legislation on Autism, Seen as Prevalent in the State” and “Questions about Prenatal Ultrasound and the Alarming Increase in Autism” midwiferytoday.com/articles/ultrasoundrodgers.asp). The possible consequences are frightening: women who felt unprepared to have children may wind up raising children with special needs, due to exposure to ultrasound.