Bill Would Require Women To See Ultrasound Before Abortion
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Women seeking an abortion would first have to undergo an ultrasound under a new bill proposed in Kentucky.
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The new bill would make it mandatory for doctors to perform ultrasounds on a woman seeking an abortion, provide an explanation of the results and provide the ultrasound images to the pregnant woman and review them with her.
“I want to make sure women understand fully what is happening if they get an opportunity to see the little fingers and toes of the baby that they're thinking about aborting,” said Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Springs.
Thank you, Sen. Westwood! Your assertion that women have no clue what is happening inside their own bodies is stunningly patronizing!
Forget the logistics of such a bill, the fact that it places yet another economic roadblock before women seeking a safe, legal abortion.
Forget the irony that Sen. Westwood decries “government intrusion into the private lives of families” on his website.
I just can’t get past the arrogance such a bill reveals. That a state Senator would just assume that he knows what’s going on in women’s minds as they make this decision. It’s just stunning in its condescension.
So here’s my idea. How about we make visual aids a requirement for all sorts of things? How about before we vote on the next war funding bill we make our representatives in Congress look at pictures of the wounded and war dead?
On a state level, before Sen. Westwood votes to cut funding for social services programs, how about forcing him to look at pictures of the kids and elderly who will be affected? How about forcing state legislators to look at pictures of environmental damage caused by the coal industry in eastern Kentucky?
I can see all sorts of benefits to such a plan. What do you think, Sen. Westwood? Fair's fair, right?
