Perry wants abortion sonogram bill on fast track

AUSTIN — Legislation requiring women seeking an abortion to first have a sonogram is an emergency that merits expedited consideration by the Legislature, Gov. Rick Perry told anti-abortion activists on Saturday.

A bill backed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick will be granted emergency status, Perry told more than a thousand anti-abortion protesters at a rally. They had gathered at the Capitol on the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

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Patrick's bill this session goes further than in 2009. Beyond requiring women who seek an abortion to receive a sonogram, a procedure that provides an image of the fetus, the bill would require women to listen to a doctor's explanation of the physical characteristics of the fetus and to hear audio of the heartbeat. It would also require women to be informed about alternatives to abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure.
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"Once again, Rick Perry is trying to distract from the real emergency — our state's massive budget shortfall — with divisive partisan issues," said Kristen Gray, a spokeswoman for the Texas Democratic Party. "He is more concerned with trying to be a GOP celebrity than looking out for everyday Texans."

March 04, 2011

Some observations after watching House Democrats wage their rear-guard action against House Bill 15, the abortion sonogram bill, on Thursday:

One, the sonogram slow-down, of sorts, is probably a portent. Even though House Republicans shuddered away their Democratic colleagues the way a horse shudders a fly, the beleagured minority at least made them work for it with one amendment after another that had no chance of passing. When you're down 101-49, lobbing logs across the railroad tracks is about all you can do.

Two, it was interesting to watch Hispanic women take the lead on an issue of particular concern to women. Reps. Marisa Marquez, of El Paso, and Carol Alvarado, Jessica Farrar and Ana Hernandez-Luna, all of Houston, reminded their male colleagues that women just might have a different perspective on bills of this sort.

That's the point Hernandez-Luna and Marquez were making -- with smiles on their faces -- when they introduced an amendment to HB 15 that would allow pregnant women to mandate vasectomies by court order. It's also the point Alvarado was making when, for the benefit of her male colleagues, she described in clinical detail just what's involved in an abortion sonogram procedure that relies on a trans-sexual probe. (She also brought the instrument along for a bit of show-and-tell.)

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SonoGuide.com
Transvaginal Ultrasound
TThe transvaginal ultrasound is best performed on patients with an empty bladder because of reduced patient discomfort and less uterine distortion from a distended bladder. The transvaginal probe is typically a 5 MHz probe and is covered with a probe condom. Bacteriostatic Surgi-lube is placed inside and outside of the condom to ensure smooth transmission of ultrasound waves. Patients may experience less discomfort with self-insertion of the probe into the vaginal canal.