tennessee: Bill to require ultrasound is first proposed regulation since amendment passed

from the 'less government' folks....



A bill requiring women to receive an ultrasound before they can receive an abortion was filed this week, the first move to create new abortion regulations since the passage of a constitutional amendment earlier this month.

Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, prefiled the bill Thursday. The main requirement of the bill calls for a woman to receive an ultrasound within 24 to 72 hours of when she plans to have the abortion.

“Right now Planned Parenthood and all abortion clinics do ultrasounds before they perform the abortion. All this bill would say is look, let the mother see the picture and hear the heartbeat, that’s all this bill would do,” Womick said Friday.

Abortion-rights advocates and critics waged a well-publicized and well-financed fight earlier this year regarding a proposed amendment to the constitution. After a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling said the state constitution preserved the right to abortion services, anti-abortion-rights supporters have pushed to change the constitution.

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