Virginia Becomes Eighth State to Require Ultrasound Before Abortion

By Matt Bewig, AllGov

11 March 12

omen in Virginia, like those in seven other states, will be required to undergo an ultrasound procedure as a condition for having an abortion under a new law signed by Republican Governor Bob McDonnell. An earlier version of the bill created a national controversy because it would have required some women to have a transvaginal ultrasound, which many criticized as physically invasive and unacceptably intrusive. The law as signed, however, requires only an abdominal ultrasound. The other seven states that also require an ultrasound are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Texas also requires the ultrasound technician to display and describe the resulting image, while similar laws in North Carolina and Oklahoma are currently unenforceable because they are being challenged in court.

The Supreme Court recognized that the Constitutional right to privacy includes a woman's right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term in the case of Roe v. Wade (1973). Later Supreme Court cases, especially City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health (1983), watered down protection for abortion rights by allowing states to place burdens on abortion as long as they are not "undue." That opened the floodgates for anti-choice legislators to try to fashion abortion restrictions that would pass the vague "undue burden" test.

To Learn More:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Signs Virginia Ultrasound Bill (by Lucy Madison, CBS News)

State Policies in Brief: Requirements for Ultrasound (Guttmacher Institute) (pdf)