RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia has enacted a law that requires a woman seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound and to have the opportunity to view the image of her baby at least 24 hours before the procedure.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, signed the bill into law March 7 after a firestorm of protests from abortion rights advocates. The criticisms prompted McDonnell to urge the Virginia Legislature to amend the bill to require an abdominal ultrasound but make clear an ultrasound performed with a vaginal probe is not required. Both houses approved the amended version of the legislation.
Critics of the proposal attacked the original measure for requiring a vaginal ultrasound — which it did not — and decried the method as “rape.” During the controversy, however, it was revealed that many abortion clinics use the vaginal ultrasound to determine gestational age before performing the procedure.
A 2003 study published in the journal Contraception showed 83 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics “always” did a vaginal ultrasound before performing an early surgical abortion, according to LifeSiteNews.com.
Virginia became the 24th state to enact an ultrasound law. Typically, the laws mandate that a woman seeking an abortion be given the opportunity to view the ultrasound image of her child.
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