Alabama Picks Up Where Virginia Left on With Ultrasound Law - Campus Progress
The Alabama state Senate is picking up the same invasive ultrasound measure that Virginia just dropped.
A state Senate committee passed a measure last week that would require a woman to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound and then be forced to view the images as well as have the doctor describe them to her. In this kind of ultrasound, “a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced,” as opposed to a more common transabdominal ultrasound.
Alabama already requires women to undergo an ultrasound prior to an abortion procedure, but they can decline to view the ultrasound image. Gov. Robert Bentley (R) said on Sunday he just learned of the bill and wasn’t ready to make a comment on his level of support.
“You can’t tell me forcing a probe into a woman’s vagina against her consent is anything but rape,” said state Sen. Linda Coleman, an Alabama Democrat who was the sole vote against the measure on the committee. “You can put icing on it, dress it up, but this is the forced penetration of a woman’s vagina without her consent. This is the most important thing we are dealing with in Alabama, regulating a woman’s vagina? As a woman I am outraged.”
After a strong push back by pro-choice advocates, Virginia began to water down their controversial transvaginal ultrasound law. However, it was only a change from a transvaginal ultrasound to a transabdominal procedure.