Michigan Senate Approves Bill Making Abortion Centers Use Better Ultrasound

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 30, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Michigan Senate Approves Bill Making Abortion Centers Use Better Ultrasound

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 30
, 2010

Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) — The Michigan Senate signed off on legislation on Wednesday looking to strengthen an existing law requiring abortion centers to show women an ultrasound of their unborn child prior to doing an abortion. The bill would ensure the ultrasound is of the highest quality possible.

The notion is that if women deserve a chance to see their baby before having an abortion, they deserve to see a high-quality image — not a low-quality one abortion centers might use to discount the ultrasound and persuade women to have an abortion.

Republican Sen. Wayne Kuipers is the sponsor of the bill and he said, according to the Grand Haven Tribune, that the image of the unborn child in the ultrasound should be as high quality as possible.

"When lawmakers gave a mother the opportunity to see real-time ultrasound images of her unborn child before aborting her pregnancy in 2006, we never thought doctors would trample on that right by producing poor-quality pictures," said Kuipers. "My bill will restore our original legislative intent — to ensure women considering abortion have access to as much information as possible before making this life and death decision."

"My goal with this reform is to protect as many babies as possible by making abortion as rare as possible," Kuipers said. "If viewing a clear ultrasound image of her unborn child causes just one woman to change her mind about having an abortion, then it is worth the effort."

The legislation, which has the support of Right to Life of Michigan, has been sent to the state House for its consideration.

Jim Sprague, Executive Director of the Grand Rapids Pregnancy Resource Center, and Jackie Murin, a Pregnancy Resource Center counselor, provided testimony in favor of the bill during committee hearings.

In addition to Right to Life of Michigan, Nancy Kajawa from Pregnancy Services of East Lansing also testified in support of the bill.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) and the ACLU opposed the bill, but did not offer testimony beyond letters submitted to the committee, Right to Life of Michigan informed LifeNews.com back in June.

Right to Life of Michigan Legislative Director Ed Rivet said, "We are supporting this legislation to ensure a mother receives the best possible medical information possible regarding the development of her unborn child."

Since enactment of the Ultrasound Viewing Option law in 2006, abortion businesses that do pre-abortion diagnostic ultrasounds must give the woman seeking an abortion the opportunity to view the ultrasound screen, and offer her a printout of the ultrasound image.

"This Amendment will help ensure that the woman can see a sharp, clear image of her baby. Having this critical information will enable the woman to make a truly informed decision regarding abortion," RLM indicated.

Kuipers isn’t new to pro-life legislation. The Holland Area Right to Life member was behind a bill requiring proper medical care for any newborn who survives a failed abortion.

Related web sites:
Right to Life of Michigan – https://www.rtl.org

 

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