Log In | Register
Despite what pro-life people like to believe, choosing an abortion is not an easy decision. However, once a woman has determined this is the best option for her circumstances, some states (like Arizona and now Texas) require the woman to receive an ultrasound before she can get the abortion.
This law appears, at least to me, to be slimy, right-wing agenda law, but I suppose you could argue otherwise. Surely, the intended purpose of the law is to dissuade women who may be "on the fence" about the abortion. I imagine pro-lifers think she will see the baby and suddenly be overcome by the spirit of the Lord, call off the abortion, raise the child as a God-fearing robot and help elect Newt Gingrich into office.
However, studies suggest this is not what is happening at all. You can read more at this seed: http://mweaver1.newsvine.com/_news/2012/02/06/10333296-study-ultrasounds-dont-stop-planned-abortions
Personally, I would like to share why it would have the opposite effect on me.
I am a new mother. I have a son who will be 9 months old in a few days. I adore him. He is an absolute joy. He has done more for me in 9 months than any other single human on earth - providing me with inspiration, love, laughter, patience, and compassion. I love him more than I thought it was possible to love.
I remember the first ultrasound I got when I was pregnant with him. The tech marked me as 8 weeks and 3 days along at that visit. It was a trans-vaginal ultrasound as he was too tiny for a traditional, over the belly kind. And when he popped up on their ginormous flatscreen - I was in awe. I don't know if a word exists for how I felt when I saw him.
But, don't get me wrong...he didn't look like anything. In fact, after that visit, I dubbed him "the bean". He looked like a kidney bean.
If I had been a woman desiring an abortion who was "on the fence", I would be dreading a mandatory ultrasound. I would be terrified that once I saw the heart beating and the little hands and the little nose, I would never recover from the guilt.
90% of abortion are performed before 12 weeks. So that fear would be unfounded. I would not see a nose or hands or much of anything, but a bean. Yes, they can show you the "heart beat" which is really just a few flickering cells that will become a heart.
Seeing that ultrasound if the pregnancy was UNWANTED would make me breath a sigh of relief and say "that's it!?" (inside, of course).
So, for those of you who have a fantasy that women will be reduced to pro-life soldiers just because they see a microscopic bean on a tv screen are sorely mistaken.
Love,
A Happy and Proud Mommy
