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Brownback's ultrasound bill seeks to better inform women seeking abortion

A Republican presidential candidate is promoting legislation designed to deter women from choosing to have their unborn child killed in the womb.



Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) last week introduced the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act (S 2075), legislation that would require abortionists to perform an ultrasound and allow women considering an abortion to view the pictures of their unborn child. According to a statement from Brownback, the requirements of S 2075 are placed solely on the doctor -- not on the woman, who could refuse to view the images when they are made available to her.

Brownback, who describes the measure as "Roe-consistent," hopes that by viewing an ultrasound image of their unborn child, women will think twice about following through with an abortion. "What I hope to ultimately accomplish is that people would take seriously what is taking place in an abortion," he shares. "Abortion is the name of a procedure -- but what we're talking about here is the destruction of an innocent child, and this is providing more information [about the child] to the woman having an abortion, to family members, to supporters ...."

Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council in Washington, DC, is lending his support to the Act, noting -- as Brownback does -- that it simply makes more information available to the woman, giving her the opportunity to make the most informed decision possible. "For that reason, even the most militant pro-abortion senators should lend their support to Brownback's bill," Perkins says. "It's not just pro-life, it's pro-woman."

But Brownback anticipates the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act will attract strong opposition from Senate Democrats. "I think the opposition will be mostly obfuscation," he predicts, anticipating they will view it merely as an attempt to stop some abortions or to try to change the mother's mind.

"To which I'd respond: it is more information and she should be entitled to have as much information as possible," says the Kansas lawmaker. "This is a very serious matter, and more information is a good thing."

Brownback says fellow Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain have endorsed S 2075, but Rudy Giuliani has not. The senator's office points out that several states, including South Carolina and Texas, have recently pursued similar legislation.

Joining Brownback in sponsoring the bill on Thursday were fellow Republican Senators Mel Martinez (Florida), Norm Coleman (Minnesota), David Vitter (Louisiana), James Inhofe (Oklahoma), and John Thune (South Dakota).