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Michigan Republicans have introduced a bill requiring all women to
undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, a move
that rekindles last year’s firestorm when other GOP-led states were considering similar measures.
The legislation
introduced Tuesday in the state House ensures the “performance of a
diagnostic ultrasound examination of the fetus at least two hours before
an abortion is performed” and requires her to sign a consent form prior
to the abortion. The bill was introduced by state Rep. Joel Johnson (R)
and cosponsored by 22 fellow lawmakers.
Johnson was not available for comment Wednesday, but his legislative
aide, Ben Frederick, confirmed to TPM that, while the legislation does
not specifically mention transvaginal ultrasounds, the bill aims to
require women to undergo an ultrasound prior to receiving an abortion.
Katie Carey, a spokeswoman for Michigan’s House Democratic Leader
Tim Greimel, categorically said the bill would mandate transvaginal
ultrasounds for women before an abortion.
“This is an unnecessary and unwarranted intrusion into the health
decisions of women,” Greimel told TPM in a statement. “This is yet
another example of the Republican obsession with overregulating people’s
private lives.”
The bill requires the use of ultrasound equipment “providing the most
visibly clear image of the gross anatomical development of the fetus
and the most audible fetal heartbeat.” As a practical matter, that
requires transvaginal ultrasounds, said Donna Crane, the policy director
of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
“It does lay bare that the real motive is to make abortion providers
continue to acquire more and more and more equipment before they’re even
eligible to perform an abortion,” Crane told TPM. “They’re trying to
make it harder for doctors to do their jobs.”
While the ultrasound is currently optional in Michigan, the proposed
legislation would make it mandatory. After the ultrasound is conducted,
women would have the option to obtain more information if they want it,
Frederick said. Women would also have the option of declining to see the
ultrasound images.
“This actually modernizes some of the provisions that we’ve had in
statutes for years now,” Frederick said. “We’ve had an ultrasound
viewing option since 2006, signed into law by Gov. [Jennifer] Granholm
with support from both parties. The ultrasounds already happen as a
matter of routine and diagnostic necessity. And this would simply add
additional options for the patients — they could view or decline to view
the images.”
If the bill passes the Republican-controlled legislature and is
signed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R), it would provide the woman “the option
to view the active ultrasound image of the fetus, hear the fetal
heartbeat, receive a physical picture of the ultrasound image of the
fetus, and hear an explanation of the ultrasound image of the fetus” by
her physician.
Frederick said his boss has reached out to Snyder and is “optimistic”
that the bill will move forward with support from members of both
parties. Snyder’s office did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The purpose, according to the text of the legislation, is to provide
“consumer protection” to women and “ensure fully informed consent to the
abortion.”
“The performance of a diagnostic ultrasound examination of the fetus
further protects the interests of the woman seeking an abortion,” reads
the bill, “by assessing the viability of the fetus and confirming the
approximate gestational age of the fetus, as this information is
necessary in order to determine appropriate medical care for the woman
seeking an abortion.”
Similar measures were introduced last year in Virginia and Alabama, but Republicans backed off
after ferocious pushback from women’s advocates and reproductive rights
groups, which described it as overly invasive and likened it to rape.
Crane said NARAL and its allies are prepared to fight to sink the legislation.
“Women should be up in arms over these types of laws,” she said.
“Unfortunately they’re not new. But the fact that politicians just went
through an election cycle and got spanked over how they treat women and
reproductive freedoms and still introduce bills like this really boggles
the mind. It’s not clear that the sponsors haven’t been living under
rocks since November.”
Sahil Kapur
Sahil Kapur is a congressional reporter for TPM. He previously covered politics and public policy for numerous publications including The Guardian and The Huffington Post. He can be reached at sahil [at] talkingpointsmemo.com.
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