Virginia Ultrasound Bill Passes State Senate Vote, Heads To Governor Bob McDonnell's Desk

PORTSMOUTH, Va., - Women seeking an abortion in Virginia would be required to first have an ultrasound and be given the opportunity to view an image of the fetus under legislation passed Wednesday by state lawmakers.

The Senate voted 21-18 to approve the measure requiring the medical professional performing the ultrasound to obtain written certification from the woman that she was offered the chance to see the image.

The medical professional also would have to record whether the woman chose to see the ultrasound image or hear the fetal heartbeat. Viewing the image and listening to the heartbeat would not be required under the legislation.

Republican Governor Bob McDonnell has spoken in favor of the bill, which he is expected to sign into law if it passes in the Republican-dominated House of Delegates.

(Reporting by Matthew A. Ward; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Trotta)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[mainhoon]

09:29 PM on 02/15/2012

these are your lawmakers? this is hilarious! 21st century?

[tripas de leche]

05:43 PM on 02/17/2012

In a sense, it is funny and bizarre. In another sense, it won't be funny if women lose control of their bodies to the Republican Party.

[troyrobertdavid]

08:36 AM on 02/15/2012

This is just an attempt to try and circumvent a woman’s right to an abortion, they feel that making it as difficult as possible will deter the action, when in fact they are only insuring that there will be more unwanted pregnancies coming to term. This is an unnecessary procedure being forced on a woman at what is already a very difficult time. One reason for getting an abortion is that you know that you are not ready for children, be it financially or emotionally and this test just increases the financial burden and increases the emotion strain.

[buddbo1]

04:55 AM on 02/15/2012

Virginia's stance against the Healthcare bill signed into law by President Obama is illegal, but having a transvaginal ultrasound performed against the will of the patient and without medical reasons is ok ? I can see this heading to the Supreme Court as invasive, and in violation of the Consitution. Having men to decide anything about a woman's body or health issues is a bias, for women are seen as sex objects and baby ovens !

[fantasticchick]

07:33 PM on 02/14/2012

Well if this is about informed consent than all pregnant women should have to listen to all options. Whether they want to keep it or not should not matter. They should be told about abortion, child birth and adoption. They should be told that they have a higher risk of death, disease and infertility if they give birth than if they have an abortion. About 10 times higher, actually. So if they really just care about the patient (this is sarcasm, as they don't care at all about the woman, just the cells inside of her) then wouldn't they give ALL pregnant women ALL the information and make them wait 24 hours before receiving any kind of prenatal pills or other OB/GYN appointments to keep it or not? Shouldn't they also counsel women that want to keep it about their genetic risks? Family history of depression, diabetes or cancer? Tell them that they may be passing those defective genes down and show them pictures of children with cancer and diabetes. You know, so that everyone is informed, of course.

[WomenDeserveAVoice]

04:22 AM on 02/15/2012

Exactly, informed consent should also be mandated BEFORE sex.

[fantasticchick]

08:44 AM on 02/15/2012

Great point!

[itolduso]

03:25 PM on 02/14/2012

This bill mandates that in 'early pregnancies' a 'trans vaginal ultrasound' be performed....without the patient's consent. If I'm not mistaken, under the FBI's definition, that constitutes 'rape'. I think the Governor should be the first one arrested and charged when this happens.

[tripas de leche]

05:46 PM on 02/17/2012

I'm wondering about the legality of this as well. If this becomes a law, then it is legal for the state of Virginia to rape a female. That doesn't make sense. Under what conditions, can state sponsored rape be legal?

[Tom Brock]

12:02 PM on 02/03/2012

So lets present a hypothetical situation. A 14 year old girl who has been the victim of forced incest becomes pregnant and wants to terminate the pregnancy. She is by traditional means determined to be 8 weeks pregnant. A traditional Abdominal Ultra sound is not going to be sensitive enough to determine anything especially, the gestational age of the fetus. So in order to satisfy this law, a transvaginal ultrasound must be performed. Calling this process invasive would be an understatement.

So now we are going to force an already traumatized young woman to endure the most invasive procedure that can be associated with this issue, as well as tell her that she has to think about it for an additional 24 hours before she will be eligible for a LEGAL procedure to be performed.

Nice job looking out for the health and welfare of actual living people Virginia. I can't wait for the big reveal of WHO is going to follow up on the mandatory notation regarding whether or not the patient viewed the image or listened to the heartbeat. At least then we can associate a face with BIG BROTHER.

[tripas de leche]

05:50 PM on 02/17/2012

What if the girl is younger because her period started sooner? Would she be more traumatized than an older teenager? Are they going to make the female pay for this procedure as well? Is this legal?

[Sarah Belville Williams]

08:41 AM on 02/03/2012

Guess what Gov. McConnel, YOUR FIRED!

[l78lancer]

01:49 AM on 02/03/2012

In a culture where bullying is decried, the republicans are using it to intimidate women about making choices that is no one else's.

It's easy to undersand why conservatives are viewed as goons and thugs.

[Jacquie Hamilton]

10:18 PM on 02/02/2012

This intrusion into women's uteri must be stopped. Small government at it's best.

[brklynivn]

06:42 PM on 02/02/2012

Social conservatives are ALWAYS big government, ALWAYS!

[greengrl]

05:56 PM on 02/02/2012

"The medical professional also would have to record whether the woman chose to see the ultrasound image or hear the fetal heartbeat."

So why is it written down? Is someone from the government going to come asking whether or not she looked or listened? This would only need to be written down if it was going to be somehow used in the future. Who will have access to this info? How would it be used and by whom?

How do the Republicans continue to get away with calling themselves the party of "smaller government" when they continue to put forth such invasive Big Brother policies?

[WomenDeserveAVoice]

04:28 AM on 02/15/2012

Very good questions. Will our medical records no longer be private? Will the government make public your personal medical information to humiliate you and let the Christian Taliban hunt you down to stone you to death?

[Payd Troll]

05:37 PM on 02/02/2012

teapers always find money to exclude groups of people

[Anne Rutherford]

01:57 PM on 02/02/2012

Now just how is Virginia going to pay for this? I wish they'd kept the rider in the bill - then it would never have passed.

[troyrobertdavid]

01:26 PM on 02/02/2012

Who has to pay for these ultrasounds? This is just another unnecessary costly hoop that women have to jump through in order to exercise their constitutional right at a time that is already very emotional and hard thought experience. I am so glad that I didn’t move to Virginia when I had the chance.

[playflute2]

09:58 AM on 02/03/2012

I'm guessing that is the whole philosophy behind the bill. Many women cannot afford such a costly procedure and, thus, will not get the ultrasound. Then we have: 1) more unwanted children born, or 2)a return to the 'good old days' of back alley abortions/mutilations. Neither of these are good options, but Bobby and his crew don't really care about that.

[tripas de leche]

05:54 PM on 02/17/2012

Maybe they want a woman to have a baby every year of her life while she's sexually active and able to bear children. How is it that men seem to be in charge of women's issues?

[WomenDeserveAVoice]

04:31 AM on 02/15/2012

Ultra sounds can cost $300 to $500 when they are unnecessary. Completely unfair to put this burden on women in these difficult situations

[FED UP 2011]

10:54 AM on 02/02/2012

When someone needs an MRI on their back because an xray or CT scan doesn't show the cause of the pain you are experiencing, the insurance company will deny it because it isn't "medically neccessary". Now a woman that wants to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason is forced to have a non medically necessary procedure, just to have the "opportunity" to look at a fetus or hear the heartbeat. She is not required to look at the ultrasound just have it done, but at whose expense? This makes no sense. Does anyone else hear the hypocrisy in this. Didn't we just have a funding cut for breast cancer scans to the planned parenthood affiliates? How does a difference in opinion about abortion deny breast cancer treatment for women? Breast cancer treatment is medically necessary but an ultrasound prior to an abortion is not. Let's force a woman to raise a child she doesn't want in order to treat her for cancer that will kill her. They need to really listen to what they are saying.

[goncrazi]

06:20 PM on 02/14/2012

They don't care. In a basically male congress they don't care how women feel. I'm not sure but there has to be a way to find out if men are the ones that oppose abortions the most. When my mother was young, they had a neighbor that was pregnant and already had 4 kids. Her husband had died shortly before this and she couldn't get a job pregnant. So she finds someone that will do it for her, ( I don't know how far long she was, my mom said she didn't show) and afterwards she starts hemmorage so my grandmother got her to the hospital and my mom watched her kids. The woman almost didn't survive but she sure never had to worry about birth control again.

[WomenDeserveAVoice]

04:36 AM on 02/15/2012

My grandfather, who is a staunch republican, worked as an OBGYN during the time when abortion was illegal, he so many horrible stories about having to put so many women back together after back alley abortions and is adamant that the procedure always remain safe and legal.