Re: June 14 Perspective essay.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2015 states considered 375 provisions to restrict abortion access. This includes laws mandating ultrasounds, a symbol of the political agenda to shame and demean women seeking safe and legal abortion.
The recent Associated Press report on declining abortion rates proves that states with fewer abortion restrictions saw the sharpest decline, while states hostile to women’s health actually saw rates increase.
Last week, the Supreme Court declined to review a North Carolina law forcing women to undergo a narrated ultrasound before receiving an abortion — a measure blocked by both a district court and federal appeals court as unconstitutional.
In a 2014 study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers analyzed 15,575 abortion visits in 2011. All patients received an ultrasound, and all had the opportunity to view the image. Only 42 percent of the women chose to look, yet about 98 percent went on to have an abortion. “Such viewing does not alter decisions of the large majority of women who are certain that abortion is the right decision,” researchers concluded.
Here’s an e-mail recently received by Planned Parenthood from a Texas woman:
“I am a grown woman who fully understood the significance of being pregnant. I tried to get pregnant and loved my unborn child. I could see evidence of the growing life inside of me as my body changed with my pregnancy. I did not need legislators to try to force me to confront an image on the ultrasound. Honestly, my imagined vision of my child was way more significant than the grainy image on the ultrasound screen and the kicks I felt were much more real than the heartbeat I heard during the ultrasound. Yet, I still chose to end my pregnancy because I love my own life and I wanted a child who would be able to live a full life and not die during delivery or a few hours after birth.”
Vicki Cowart is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.
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