Sonogram Bill Enforcable During Lawsuit
An appeals court ruled Tuesday that Texas's sonogram law can be enforced, while pending lawsuits are decided. Image courtesy Texas Tribune.A U.S. Appeals Court in New Orleans ruled today that Texas can enforce a law requiring doctors to show sonogram images to women seeking abortions.
Lawmakers approved the bill last May. In August, a federal judge in Austin decided that the law violated the First Amendment right of a doctor’s free speech.
“We’re extremely disappointed with today’s decision by the Fifth Circuit [Court of Appeals],” said Nancy Northup with the Center for Reproductive Rights, the group that filed the initial suit against the law. “Texas’s mandatory ultrasound law is one of the most extreme in the nation. And it forces women to hear information and to view information even when they don’t want to.”
In a statement this afternoon, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott praised the decision. So did Jonathan Saenz with the Liberty Institute, a conservative legal advocacy group.
“This is one of the most important for informed consent for women seeking an abortion,” Saenz said. “At the end of it all, women and unborn children in Texas are safer today because of this decision, and they’re no longer subject to the abuse of abortion doctors who deny women critical medical information.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights says other lawsuits challenging the sonogram bill will move forward.
Can you guys provide more information about the photo you chose to illustrate this story? It looks a lot like a traditional sonogram to me, and the photographer’s photostream seems to imply similar: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominic/2248187758/.
There are a number of medical resources out there if you want to choose a photo that accurately reflects the trans-vaginal sonogram that this law mandates. This photo seems more than a little misleading, and I hope it’s not deliberately so.