Forced Ultrasound and Post-Ultrasound Waiting Period for Abortion Proposed in Tennessee

A bill has been proposed in the Tennessee legislature that would force pregnant women to obtain ultrasounds prior to having an abortion. The bill would also impose a 24-hour waiting period between the ultrasound and the abortion. As introduced, requires that an ultrasound be performed prior to an abortion, with an exception for medical emergencies. The bill tries to avoid controversy about transvaginal ultrasound that has encouraged opposition to other forced ultrasound bills, by saying it should be an transabdominal ultrasound. This is still forced use of a medical procedure with absolutely no medical indication, and without any room for the judgement of the clinician or the specific separate consent woman seeking the abortion. Women would be also forced to either view or listen to a description of the ultrasound, and to receive a printed copy. Hey, that will be super awesome for women who were raped, or have illnesses that prohibit pregnancy, or for whatever reason wanted but simply cannot continue the pregnancy! Let’s traumatize women so we can better control them! It’s unclear how transabdominal (over the belly) ultrasound could even fulfill the other requirements of the proposed law, given that most abortions occur very early in pregnancy and the heartbeat and visible images required by the bill are probably not going to be technically possible transabdominally when those abortions occur. There is nothing in the bill language to address this scenario, so th...
Source: Women's Health News - Category: Medical Librarians Authors: Tags: Abortion Abuse, Rape, & Safety Access, Rights, & Choice Ethics Government Laws, Legislation, & Courts Pregnancy consent forced ultrasound HB 984 Jim Tracy medical abuse by legislators Republicans SB 632 Tennessee Source Type: blogs