Claim: On mandatory ultrasounds before abortions.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Types of abortion restrictions in the United States
text: allowed to have the procedure. Mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds have been particularly controversial. In Texas, for instance, even if previous ultrasounds had indicated severe congenital defects, a woman seeking an abortion was required under a 2012 law to have another ultrasound done, "administered by her abortion doctor, and [she had to] listen to a state-mandated description of the fetus she was about to abort", though state-issued guidelines later did away with that ultrasound if the fetus had an "irreversible medical condition". On November 12, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the state of Oklahoma to the

title: War on Women
text: notes that "the use of trans-vaginal ultrasounds is routine among abortion providers." Virginia State legislators passed a bill in 2012 requiring women to have an ultrasound before having an abortion. The legislation, signed by Governor Bob McDonnell, would require that the provider of an abortion make a copy of the fetal image and include it in the file of the patient. In Louisiana, where pregnant women are already required to view ultrasounds of their fetuses before receiving an abortion, lawmakers proposed a bill that would require them to listen to the embryonic/fetal heartbeat as well. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett drew

title: North Carolina Women's Right to Know Act
text: is the third state to approve a law requiring that a woman be shown an ultrasound before her abortion". "Barbara Holt, president of North Carolina Right to Life and a supporter of the new law, said the ultrasound requirement will help women make fully informed decisions."The ultrasound is a window into the womb and the opportunity for this mother to get scientifically accurate information about a procedure that is going to have great consequences for her and for her child. It's a life or death decision," Holt said. Supporters claim the law is an attempt to ensure that women are

title: Deb Fischer
text: 675, which required abortion providers to display ultrasound images of the fetus at least one hour prior to the abortions, in a position where the abortion seeker could easily view them. A spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee stated that the Nebraska law was stronger than those of other states, which only required that the client be asked if she wanted to see an ultrasound image. The measure passed by a 40–5 vote, and was signed into law by Governor Dave Heineman. TENURE Fischer's district was geographically the largest in the Nebraska Legislature, comprising 12 counties and part

title: Types of abortion restrictions in the United States
text: overturning of a bill that mandated compulsory ultrasound examinations. Some states require that a person seeking an abortion wait for a period of one to six days, variously, after visiting the provider for the first time and before having the abortion. The state of South Dakota requires that the patient obtain mandatory counseling from an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center during this time frame. This type of legislation requires either that a woman be required to listen to her fetus's heartbeat should she attempt to obtain an abortion, or, more rigidly, that abortion become illegal as soon as a heartbeat can

title: Bob Marshall (Virginia politician)
text: on to pass 54-46 in the House but ultimately failed in the Senate. During the 2012 legislative session, Marshall and other Republicans supported a measure (SB484/HB462) to require women in Virginia to undergo a trans-vaginal ultrasound procedure before being allowed to have a legal abortion. Public protests about this invasive procedure caused Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell to withdraw his support for the bill. It was then amended to require only an "external" transabdominal ultrasound procedure. Critics argued it was not medically required or indicated, while other physicians and ultrasound technicians argued a trans-vaginal ultrasound is essential both before and after

title: War on Women
text: federal funding for health care and being held up to scorn as having 'declared war on women.'" In 2011 and 2012, "War on Women" was used to describe the legislation passed by many states requiring that women seeking abortions first undergo government-mandated ultrasounds. Some states require that women view the image of the fetus and others require that women be offered the opportunity to listen to the fetal heartbeat. Since many women's pregnancies are not far enough along to get an image via a traditional ultrasound, transvaginal ultrasounds, which involve the physician inserting a probe into the woman's vagina, may

title: North Carolina Women's Right to Know Act
text: change in the people; this is a change in the leadership," he said". "An Oklahoma County judge has permanently blocked a state law that requires women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before prior to the abortion. District Judge Brian Dixon handed down an order Wednesday ruling that the law is unconstitutional and unenforceable. The order says the statute passed in 2010 is an unconstitutional special law because it addresses only patients and physicians concerning abortions and not other medical care. Enforcement of the law has been blocked since shortly after

title: Bob McDonnell
text: Virginia state legislature, controlled by Republicans, to require a trans-vaginal ultrasound for any woman contemplating an abortion in Virginia. McDonnell initially supported the bill, but backed off after public protests. He persuaded the legislators to pass instead a slightly watered-down version requiring a less invasive abdominal ultrasound before an abortion and exempting women who were pregnant as a result of rape or incest, provided they reported it to the police. The redrafted bill was opposed by pro-choice groups and a minority in the legislature, but McDonnell signed it into law on March 7, 2012. McDonnell was called "Governor Vagina", "Governor

title: Political activity of the Knights of Columbus
text: death penalty, or other things they consider offenses against life. The Knights have consistently donated to pro-life causes, including millions annually to their Ultrasound Initiative in the United States and Canada. The Knights believe that, because ultrasound machines are so expensive, without their active financial support many pregnancy care centers would not be able to afford them. During a pregnancy, ultrasound exams are medically necessary for a variety of diagnostic reasons, and the sonograms they produce help women better visualize their foetus. Research shows that women are less likely to obtain an abortion after seeing ultrasound images, particularly as the

title: Focus on the Family
text: Option Ultrasound Program reported in 2014 that it has helped prevent more than 270,000 abortions since 2004. A study released in February 2012 shows that ultrasounds do not have a direct impact on an abortion decision. In 2011, FOTF President Jim Daly announced that while FOTF will continue to fight for the overturn of Roe v. Wade, in the meantime he would like to work with pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood who state they want to make abortion "safe, legal and rare" towards the shared goal of making abortion less common. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) introduced a sonogram bill in

title: War on Women
text: criticism when he said of his state's new mandatory transvaginal ultrasound law that "You can't make anybody watch, okay? Because you just have to close your eyes. As long as it's on the exterior and not the interior." In June 2013, Representative Trent Franks of Arizona, passed a national bill in the House Judiciary Committee that would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. The bill did not include exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother. In responding to the bill's lack of exception for rape victims, Franks stated that "the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy

title: Governorship of Rick Perry
text: Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Worth, an evangelical Christian school. In 2005, Perry signed a parental consent bill into law. Perry has signed legislation prohibiting abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy, and has also signed into law a bill that required abortion providers to offer informational brochures to women considering abortion. In May 2011, Perry signed a "Mandatory Ultrasound Bill" which stipulates that, prior to every abortion, the abortion practitioner or a certified sonographer must perform a sonogram before any sedative or anesthesia is administered. Before every abortion, the abortion practitioner must give an explanation of the sonogram images

title: Medical ultrasound
text: requires self-regulation on the part of the manufacturer in terms of the machine's calibration. Ultrasound-based pre-natal care and sex screening technologies were launched in India in the 1980s. With concerns about its misuse for sex-selective abortion, the Government of India passed the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT) in 1994 to regulate legal and illegal uses of ultrasound equipment. The law was further amended into the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) (PCPNDT) Act in 2004 to deter and punish prenatal sex screening and sex selective abortion. It is currently illegal and a punishable crime in India

title: Center for Reproductive Rights
text: an abortion. In addition, it requires the doctor to put the ultrasound image within the view of the woman and describe it. The plaintiffs have called it an "ideological message," and a violation of the First Amendment. And since the patient is not actually required to listen to what the doctor describes and can even choose to wear blinders and headphones, the plaintiffs went on to call it a "farce." After suing the Obama administration over the restricted access to birth control, in June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice ordered that the Obama administration make all forms of emergency

title: Kathy Byron
text: Governor Bob McDonnell amended the bill to include language that would require the written consent of the woman seeking an abortion, and would also require only a transabdominal ultrasound. However, Rep. Byron urged rejection of the amendment on its grounds that a transvaginal ultrasound is an invasive procedure because, "If we want to talk about invasiveness, there's nothing more invasive than the procedure that she is about to have," she said, referring to her belief that abortions harm viable persons within the womb. In January 2017, she proposed HB2108, a bill that would restrict municipalities to expand beyond their current

title: North Carolina Women's Right to Know Act
text: Pledge of Allegiance and salute the flag, or compel people to display state mottoes on license plates". "She said the North Carolina abortion law "goes well beyond" requirements that patients give informed consent to medical procedures. The ultrasound provision could compel "an unwilling speaker to deliver visual and spoken messages to a listener who is not listening or looking," the judge wrote".". Aside from constitutional violations, groups against the law claim that it is simply a means of enforcing or advancing the ideologies of law makers."(The North Carolina law) turns doctors into mouthpieces for politicians' ideological message," said Bebe Anderson

title: Fetal heartbeat bill
text: that mandated both an ultrasound of the fetus and listening to its heartbeat before an abortion could be procured was laid on the table in 2012 in Pennsylvania. This last bill became controversial when Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania's governor, stated that "You just have to close your eyes" and dismissed accusations that the bill would be unnecessarily obtrusive. There exists some controversy surrounding fetal heartbeat laws because no one is exactly sure when the earliest point is at which a fetus's heartbeat can be detected; when the Wyoming state legislature was debating the bill mentioned above, Norine Kasperik "noted that during

title: Barbara Comstock
text: and supports increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support. Comstock supports a ban on abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. In 2011, Comstock voted in favor of HB 462, which required women to have transvaginal ultrasounds before receiving an abortion. When opponents pointed out that this would necessitate an internal ultrasound for early-term pregnancies, an amendment was passed to limit the requirement to external ultrasounds only. She also voted in favor of the amendment. She supports making birth control available to women over the counter. In March 2017,

title: North Carolina Women's Right to Know Act
text: Nova Health Systems, operator of Reproductive Services of Tulsa, challenged its constitutionality in May 2010. It would have forced a woman seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound, have the image placed in front of her and then hear it described in detail" Wisconsin has recently passed a similarly restrictive law entitled "The Coercive and Web Cam Abortion Prevention Act". "The law, which took effect on Friday, requires women visit a doctor at least three times before having a drug-induced abortion, forces physicians to determine whether women are being coerced into having an abortion and prohibits women and doctors from