Antiabortion Fanatics' New Invasive Attack: The Forced Ultrasound

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

You have to give members of the religious right credit for one thing: No matter how resoundingly voters whack them into oblivion, they come right back fighting. To clarify, I'm not talking about average, conservative, pro-life voters. I'm talking about fanatics and activists.

Exhibit A:

"LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)--Abortion foes have a new tactic: The hope that women can't look away.

Lawmakers in 11 states are considering bills that would offer or require ultrasounds before a woman gets an abortion. The most stringent are proposed laws in Nebraska, Indiana and Texas, which would require a doctor show the ultrasound image of the fetus to the woman, despite legal challenges to a similar measure in Oklahoma.

A similar bill was proposed in Wyoming but it was defeated in a state House committee before reaching the floor."

No woman seeking an abortion does so unthinkingly. Few, if any, women use abortion as birth control, although the religious right would have us believe otherwise. And women seeking abortions do not need moralistic lectures about the horrors they are about to commit. To require them to have an ultrasound prior to an abortion is the most invasive type of moralistic lecture imaginable. Some state laws would even require poor women to pay for them, which would put the cost of abortion beyond their meager reach.

The Überright has already succeeded in throwing so many obstacles in the path of women trying to end unwanted pregnancies: 24-hour waiting periods, parental consent laws, and so on. Required ultrasounds are a step too far. "Offered" ultrasounds are insulting, too. In my humble opinion, both are completely unconstitutional.

Read my lips: Elections have consequences. You lost. Go away.

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By Bonnie Erbe