By Kathleen Gilbert
January 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Three state legislatures have introduced abortion regulation bills this week, including two requiring ultrasound or sonogram for abortion seekers, and another mandating that abortionists make themselves available for counseling if desired by the mother.
Kansas’s Rep. Lance Kinzer introduced legislation on Monday that would require a sonogram and a copy of the sonogram’s image to be made available to women 30 minutes before any abortion is performed. The woman would also be given a right to listen to the child’s heartbeat if fetal heart monitoring is performed.
The bill, which would be appended to Kansas’ Woman’s Right to Know Act, would also call for women to be given a list of free sonogram locations 24 hours before the abortion, as well as information on crisis pregnancy centers.
In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry in his state of the state address Tuesday similarly urged the legislature to include the right of women contemplating abortion to see an ultrasound of their baby in the 2003 Women’s Right to Know Act . The 2003 legislation already requires abortionists to inform women of available health benefits that would support bringing the baby to term, and to remind women that the father is required to pay child support, among other provisions.
The bill’s main legislative sponsors are Republicans Sen. Dan Patrick and Rep. Frank Corte Jr., who had worked unsuccessfully in 2007 to get the bill through the House.
South Dakota’s Senate yesterday received Senate Bill 92, which would require abortionists to schedule office hours at the abortion center for consultation with the mothers, should they seek it. Abortionists will be expected to set aside two hours the day before the procedure at or near the facility where the abortion is scheduled, under penalty of misdemeanor.
Republican Representative Roger Hunt, a leading champion of pro-life legislation in South Dakota, is among the lead sponsors of the bill.
The bill will attack the practice, testified to by several women who had their children aborted at Planned Parenthood, of abortionists who frequently do not see the mother until she is prepped for the abortion procedure, reports the Dakota Voice. Some women testify that they never actually meet the abortionist, as they have already been put under anesthesia before his or her arrival.