Sonograms and Red Herrings

Yesterday we saw the first bill of the 2011 Texas Legislative Session come to the House Floor, and what a spectacle it was.  HB 15, authored by Representative Sid Miller, would require abortionists to provide women with sonogram results prior to purchasing an abortion.  Many women who have had abortions testified last week in favor of the measure, saying that without the scientific/medical information provided by a sonogram, a woman is not fully informed before choosing an abortion. 

Opponents have argued this requirement would increase costs, but the truth is that abortionists routinely perform sonograms before the abortion so that they will know the exact location and size of the fetus (baby with a heartbeat).  The difference is that under a sonogram law, the abortionists would have to turn on the sonogram sound, show the woman the images (she can refuse to view them,) and describe the stage of fetal development. 

The most ridiculous red herring on the House Floor yesterday was presented by Representative Carol Alvarado (D-Houston).  Alvarado brought in a trans-vaginal sonogram probe to wave in front of legislators as an attempt to prove sonograms are inappropriately invasive.  Of course the trans-vaginal sonogram is rarely used in pre-natal sonograms, and I wonder how many abortion clinics even have them.  Most pregnancies are confirmed through external sonogram devices.  (I was able to see my first child at 7 weeks gestation via external sonogram.)

Even if a trans-vaginal sonogram is performed, it is absurd to suggest that the probe is somehow more invasive than the actual abortion.  As many proponents of the bill have pointed out, the abortion device itself is far more repulsively invasive.  See for yourself here.

The truth is that the abortion lobby does not want women to know what they are aborting.  These red herrings are designed to distract us from the facts.  Women will still have the right to choose abortion under this proposed law, but unlike the approximately 44 Texas women who will purchase an abortion today, they will have all the information essential to making such a potentially life-changing decision.