North Dakota Bill Would Require Providers To Offer Ultrasounds 24 Hours Before Performing Abortions

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Article Date: 19 Jan 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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North Dakota Rep. Bette Grande (R) has introduced legislation (H.B. 1371) that would require abortion providers in the state to give women seeking abortions the option of viewing an ultrasound at least 24 hours before an abortion is performed, the AP/Grand Forks Herald reports. According to Grande, the bill may lead to fewer abortions. The bill would not require women to view the ultrasound images. Grande said she hopes that women will decide not to have abortions after they "see what they have inside their womb[s]." According to Mary Spaulding Balch, a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee, 18 states have similar laws in place, most of which were passed within the last two years. Grande added that for a woman coming to a clinic "with a possibility of an abortion, [an ultrasound] is just one more tool that person has [at her] disposal to find out exactly what the procedure will entail."

Tammi Kromenaker -- the director of the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo, the state's only abortion clinic -- said that the clinic already has been offering ultrasounds to women for the past year and that a majority of the women declined the offer. Kromenaker called the legislation "just another roadblock thrown in front of North Dakota women. It's legislators making medical decisions." Celine Mizrahi -- a spokesperson for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights -- noted that there is only one abortion provider in North Dakota and that it is "already difficult" for women to access abortion services. Mizrahi said the bill is "part of a strategy that suggests women can't make these decisions or women aren't making these decisions thoughtfully, which is not true." She added that the bill would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship and increase the cost of abortions (Kolpack, AP/Grand Forks Herald, 1/15).

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