South Carolina "Ultrasound Before Abortion" Bill Right on the Mark

The South Carolina House of Representatives is reviewing a bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound of her fetus with the doctor before the procedure and quite frankly, it's about time. Opponents and pro-choice advocates are arguing that its emotional blackmail and that the government has no right stepping in and hindering the health care provided by a doctor to his patient, but they are dead wrong. It's called "informed consent."

Christopher Hollis, vice president for governmental and political affairs for South Carolina's Planned Parenthood Health Systems, has been quoted to ABC News as saying, "I would certainly hope that the good people who have been elected would do what's best for the people...This is just trying to bring politics between a woman and her doctor with an ultrasound that has no medical relevance whatsoever...It is nothing more than a barrier to health care, and it is completely not medically necessary in any way." Try telling that to the unborn.

While it is my personal belief that abortion should not be legal unless it is of medical necessity to save the mother, a woman seeking an abortion should be ABSOLUTELY informed of exactly what she is doing and then, and only then, be allowed to proceed. Abortion is often sought as the easy way out, but easy for whom? Certainly, not the child. Some states, like Mississippi, have also proposed bills similar to the one in South Carolina, however Mississippi's version goes so far as to require the woman not only view an ultrasound of her child, but also hear the baby's heartbeat before she can submit herself to an abortion.

Bottom line is the content of this bill does not require the physician to simply flash a picture of a baby on the ultrasound screen and then send the mother on her way in the hopes of conning the mother out of an abortion. In addition to the ultrasound images, the woman is offered information about fetal development, a list agencies which offer alternatives to abortion, and materials that describe medical assistance benefits which may be available for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care. Making a woman rethink her decision with ALL of the information, including WHOM she is aborting, as well as alternative options, certainly cannot be at the detriment to her or her child.