Hey Charles, I think this may be spreading to my home state of Mississippi too and based on what I just read, the GOP led legislature seems to be taking a pretty sneaky approach to it.

A portion of Mississippi HB 1107, which if enacted would become law on July 1, 2012:

(i) The physician who is to perform or induce the abortion or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by a national registry of medical sonographers performs a sonogram on the woman on whom the abortion is to be performed or induced. The sonogram image must be of a quality consistent with standard medical practice in the community, shall contain the dimensions of the unborn child and shall accurately portray the presence of external members and internal organs, if present or viewable, of the unborn child;

(ii) The physician who is to perform or induce the abortion displays the sonogram images in a quality consistent with current medical practice in a manner that the woman may view them;

(iii) The physician who is to perform or induce the abortion provides, in a manner understandable to a layperson, a verbal explanation of the results of the sonogram images, including a medical description of the dimensions of the unborn child, the presence of cardiac activity, and the presence of external members and internal organs; and

(iv) The physician who is to perform or induce the abortion or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by a national registry of medical sonographers makes audible the heart auscultation of the unborn child for the woman to hear, if present, in a quality consistent with current medical practice and provides, in a manner understandable to a layperson,
a verbal explanation of the results of the sonogram images, including a medical description of the dimensions of the unborn child, the presence of cardiac activity, and the presence of external members and internal organs.

And therein lies the rub. It has to be a “quality” ultrasound. Since most abortions are done early on in pregnancy, guess what that means?

Most prenatal ultrasound procedures are performed topically, or on the surface of the skin, using a gel as a conductive medium to aid in the quality of the image. However, a transvaginal ultrasound is an alternative procedure performed using a tubular probe that is inserted into the vaginal canal. This method of ultrasound produces an image quality that is greatly enhanced, but it is not a common prenatal procedure. However, it may be used early in pregnancy to get a clearer view of the uterus or ovaries if a problem is suspected. It may also be used early in pregnancy to determine how far along you are in your pregnancy