Alabama Ultrasound Bill: Governor Robert Bentley Says He Just Learned About Legislation

WASHINGTON -- Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) said Sunday morning that he has just learned about the transvaginal ultrasound bill pending in the state legislature and has not studied it.

The Alabama Senate is slated to start debating the controversial legislation as early as Tuesday after the bill passed the health committee last week. The bill -- similar to one just amended in the Virginia legislature -- requires women to undergo an ultrasound prior to receiving an abortion. It says either an external or transvaginal ultrasound would need to be performed, and that women would not have a decision as to which procedure would be used. Transvaginal ultrasounds are needed to detect an embryo in the earliest weeks of pregnancy.

While the issue has received national publicity due to the Virginia ultrasound bill, Bentley said he did not know about the Alabama bill.

"I just read about it this morning," Bentley told The Huffington Post after a meeting of the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee in Washington on Sunday.

He added that he has not studied the legislation or the issue and was not prepared to take a position on the bill.

"I'm not ready to make a comment at this time," Bentley said.

The Alabama bill is similar in scope to the original text of the Virginia bill, including the transvaginal requirement. The Montgomery Advertiser reports that a doctor who does not administer an ultrasound prior to an abortion could face up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, along with civil liability. The proposal includes allowing the mother, the father of a fetus and the grandparents to sue in the event an ultrasound is not done before an abortion.

The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Clay Scofield (R-Cullman), explained the bill to the Advertiser.

Scofield said Thursday that he believed the legislation would reduce the number of abortions in the state.

"What this is doing is allowing the mother as much information as possible before she makes probably the most difficult decision of her life," Scofield said.

The controversial Virginia bill passed the legislature last week, causing a public relations backlash for Republican sponsors. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) worked with legislators to revise the bill, and it now requires women to receive an external, transabdominal ultrasound rather than a more invasive transvaginal ultrasound. McDonnell told a forum in Washington on Friday that he did not know the transvaginal requirement was in the bill. The Virginia bill came at the same time that the state defeated a personhood bill in a surprise vote.

The Virginia bill also caused state Del. David Albo (R-Fairfax Station) to take to the House floor Friday, saying that the debate over the bill and a Democratic lawmaker's appearance on the "Rachel Maddow Show" regarding the bill had caused his wife to not have sex with him last week.

Comments

[bouvdoggie]

01:01 PM on 02/28/2012

This a Republicant way to "save" money? More medical wasted money, more wasted court time, more wasted "I can't afford a lawyer and I need one" money. That isn't saving anything you knot headed politicians.

[kitsmom1990]

12:39 PM on 02/28/2012

Ultrasound Bill is a great idea. Women should see who they are killing before they actually go ahead and kill them. Isn't it all about "Choice"? At least that's what I hear ad nauseam from the "Women's Rights" groups.

[bouvdoggie]

01:09 PM on 02/28/2012

They would see nothing more than a dot unless it was under extreme magnification. Then it would be indistinguishable from a rat or a puppy taken at the same period of time in gestation. Who's going to pay for all this time and trouble for a moot point? It will cause nothing but even more lawsuits. The entire thing will be tossed out but the "Right to Living Hell" will be in the limelight.

[enhancedvibes]

01:51 PM on 02/28/2012

I think it's funny that you put women's rights in quotes as though that is some intangible thing that doesnt exist or shouldnt exist. Women do indeed have control over their body no matter what inhabits it, fetus, parasite, etc. She doesnt suddenly become less than a whole person just because she becomes pregnant. Please, be serious here as this is a serious issue.

And lastly, ya know when what is inside the uterus becomes a baby? When the woman decides to keep it.

[sglahn817]

10:47 AM on 02/28/2012

all it takes is for one local DA to haul a legislator in for conspiracy to commit rape.

[MsLizabeth]

12:13 AM on 03/01/2012

Not in Alabama. It's a one party state. The haves and the have nots.

[Honest Babe]

10:40 AM on 02/28/2012

We are women. Time to roar. Vote no on every Republican and any Democrat who supports these bills. It's time to remind them that women are a majority and we vote.

[MsLizabeth]

12:13 AM on 03/01/2012

I drove to Montgomery and spoke the the most powerful man in the senate.

[Honest Babe]

10:37 AM on 02/28/2012

Plausible deniability? He hasn't seen the complete bill, but I doubt that he has not been told anything about the intent to push such a bill. This is a nation-wide effort being pushed by particular groups. He would have to be under a rock not to know.

[enhancedvibes]

09:30 AM on 02/28/2012

"The proposal includes allowing the mother, the father of a fetus and the grandparents to sue in the event an ultrasound is not done before an abortion. "

Wow, the Alabama bill is even more offensive and unconstitutional than the Virginia bill, how is that possible?! Seriously, grandparents have more rights than the woman carrying the fetus?

[neamh]

12:50 PM on 02/28/2012

...and the first thing that came to my mind was: If they can sue AFTER the abortion is performed, how are they going to prove that they were the father/grandparents of the fetus?

[enhancedvibes]

01:31 PM on 02/28/2012

Exactly, the law is ridiculous and an embarrassing example of a poorly written law. All the personhood amendments are poorly written as well. That is why they are deemed unconstitutional.

[bouvdoggie]

01:10 PM on 02/28/2012

Wonder when they are going to throw DNA into the disgusting mess?

[Aurical]

09:55 PM on 02/27/2012

Wow!

[HaroldHeckubah]

07:57 PM on 02/27/2012

Just curious, Gov. Bentley, but what door prize does the father of the fetus win?

[MsLizabeth]

12:17 AM on 03/01/2012

He gets to sue the doctor for not torturing the female the dude knocked up.

[HaroldHeckubah]

07:55 PM on 02/27/2012

Ohhhhhh, nothing could be finah than to regulate vaginas in the morrrrrr-orning!

As a male of the species I apologize to women for these bozos.

[kennethlross]

06:31 PM on 02/27/2012

Maybe these twits need a proctologist with poor depth perception to give them an examination. How about one for one? For each woman getting one of the transvaginal probes, one of the dweeb from the great state of Alabama poneys up and puts his feet in the stirrups! I would pay front row for that seat, big money!

[myline2]

05:09 PM on 02/27/2012

Where is the bill that States that Grandparents and Wives can sue if they are not informed before before a man undergoes a vasectomy?

[Hannah Garrett]

04:23 PM on 02/27/2012

People,
There is an ethics violation concerning this bill:

CHAIR OF COMMITTEE CONSIDERING THE ALABAMA "ULTRASOUND" BILL IS VICE PRESIDENT OF AN ULTRASOUND EQUIPMENT COMPANY.

[ssnt]

05:46 PM on 02/27/2012

lol

[Honest Babe]

10:38 AM on 02/28/2012

Since when has that stopped these guys?

[Ramon Noches]

04:02 PM on 02/27/2012

The Gov reminds me of a college course I once had many years ago. I waited until the night before finals to crack open the new and untouched textbook. It actually made the new book sound and I had a night of hard study ahead of me. I managed to get a C+ but in my rush to study, I sacrificed any real education opportunity I should have had. All that I should have learned evaporated almost before I exited the classroom. Just hope the Gov does not substitute cramming about one of this year’s hot button issues; he may fail his final.

[goldfox]

03:46 PM on 02/27/2012

Let's see. The Gov wrote it but never read it. Tells a lot about the man and the depth of his values.

[MarySkl]

05:34 PM on 02/27/2012

The senator who introduced the bill never even read it. The bill was a part of assembly line legislation produced by Americans for Life.

[Hannah Garrett]

03:26 PM on 02/27/2012

"GOP ethics: MT Chair of Committee considering Alabama ultrasound is VP of ultrasound co."

IMMORAL, ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, UNETHICAL

We can't allow these degrading assaults on women to continue. According to the wording of this shameful piece of garbage, every one except the person involved has a say. The Democratic lawmakers and President Obama are going to have to speak up for us. I suggest we mount an email campaign promising our vote for in November in return for their support in stamping out this travesty. Does anyone have a better idea?