Sherry Colb on Texas Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Mandate

Justia.com: Some Reflections on the Texas Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Law, a Year After Its Passage: Part One in a Two-Part Series of Columns, by Sherry F. Colb:

A little over a year ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law a set of abortion regulations requiring pre-procedure ultrasounds.  To simplify a bit, the law—which took the form of amendments to the so-called “Texas Woman’s Right to Know Act”—requires abortion providers to do the following at least 24 hours prior to the procedure: (1) perform an ultrasound on the patient seeking an abortion; (2) expose the patient to the resulting visual ultrasound image, as well as any extant fetal heart sounds; and (3) provide an explanation of the embryo or fetus as pictured on the screen.

In response to the passage of this law (“the Sonogram Law”), a group of abortion providers brought suit, in Texas Medical Providers Performing Abortion Services v. Lakey. . . . 

Dorf on Law: Mandatory Ultrasounds and the Adoption Alternative, by Sherry F. Colb:

In my Verdict column for this week -- Part 1 of a 2-part series -- I discuss the set of Texas amendments to the state's Woman's Right to Know Act, a group of amendments that I call "the Sonogram Law."  The Sonogram Law, passed approximately one year ago, requires abortion providers to give women an ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to her abortion (or 2 hours prior, if she certifies that she lives at least 100 miles from a provider) and display the ultrasound image for the woman, explaining in detail the contents of the image, playing any audible fetal heart sounds, and explaining those sounds to the woman as well.  A group of Texas providers challenged the constitutionality of the Sonogram law as it affects physicians, but my column focuses on the constitutionality of the law as it affects women seeking an abortion.  I examine how the Sonogram law resembles and differs from abortion regulations that the Supreme Court has considered in the past. . . .