Texas Gov. Perry Speaks In Favor Of Ultrasound Bill, Criticizes Obama Administration

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Article Date: 26 Feb 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Tuesday criticized President Obama's recent actions on abortion-related issues during a rally in support of a state bill (SB 182) that would require a woman to receive an ultrasound prior to obtaining an abortion, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. Perry said that Obama "sent a signal that the unborn don't matter as much as the opinion of his pro-abortion backers" when he repealed the "Mexico City" policy, also known as the "global gag rule," in January. At the time, Obama said the policy, which banned federal funding to international family planning groups that offer abortion services or information with their own funds, was too broad and undermined family planning in developing countries, according to the AP/Chronicle. Perry said that abortion is "now a U.S. foreign export" and that he would "rather export Texas principles, like our informed consent law that helps expectant mothers better understand the risks and the consequences of abortion."

During the rally, Perry also criticized human embryonic stem cell research and said that he will "oppose our taxpayer's dollars from being spent on research that ends human life." According to the AP/Chronicle, Perry was referring to a January FDA ruling allowing the first clinical trials using such stem cells on people with spinal injuries at Geron Corporation in Minnesota. Perry said the approval is "another sign of Washington's misplaced priorities." He added that he is "deeply disturbed that an experiment that uses the tissue of unborn children as raw material … is going to have a terrible impact" in Texas (Stone, AP/Houston Chronicle, 2/24).

Critics Decry Bill Requiring Ultrasounds

According to the Chronicle, hundreds of abortion-rights opponents who support the ultrasound bill attended the rally. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) said, "Too often we see abortions that don't need to happen. In my heart I got to believe that everybody wants to see fewer abortions, and they want to see more adoptions and that's bluntly why I think this bill makes sense."

Opponents of the measure say the bill is flawed because it requires women to listen to a fetal heartbeat if one is audible and to listen to the physician describe the features of the ultrasound, including the size of the fetus. Yvonne Gutierrez, vice president for community affairs for the Planned Parenthood Trust of San Antonio, voiced a concern that these requirements could “shame and humiliate” women. She added that the bill is "simply not part of medical necessity."

The Chronicle reports that almost 78,000 abortions were performed in Texas in 2007. Ten other states are currently considering bills that would require ultrasounds prior to abortion. Similar laws are in effect in at least 12 states, the Chronicle reports (Saleh Rauf, Houston Chronicle, 2/24).

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