Dave Boucher

The Tennessean

NASHVILLE — A bill requiring women to receive an ultrasound before they can receive an abortion was filed this week, the first move to create new abortion regulations since the passage of a constitutional amendment earlier this month.

Republican state Rep. Rick Womick prefiled the bill Thursday. The main requirement of the bill calls for a woman to receive an ultrasound within 24 to 72 hours of when she plans to have the abortion.

"Right now Planned Parenthood and all abortion clinics do ultrasounds before they perform the abortion. All this bill would say is look, let the mother see the picture and hear the heartbeat, that's all this bill would do," Womick said Friday.

Abortion-rights advocates and critics waged a well-publicized and well-financed fight earlier this year regarding a proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution. After a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling said the state constitution preserved the right to abortion services, anti-abortion rights supporters have pushed to change the constitution.

Voters approved the amendment on Nov. 4, with 53 percent of Tennesseans voting in favor of the change. The amended language says that nothing in the state constitution guarantees the right to an abortion, opening the door for legislative restrictions on abortion services.

After the election, House Speaker Beth Harwell, a Republican from Nashville, pledged to introduce three regulations related to abortion clinics that are different than Womick's proposal. Other conservative lawmakers have also pledged to propose bills that create new regulations for abortion clinics. Womick, a conservative who is also challenging Harwell for the speakership, is first out of the gate with the ultrasound proposal.

Requiring ultrasounds is a common move by anti-abortion rights activists in an attempt to dissuade women from going through with the abortion after they see images of the fetus or embryo. As of Nov. 1, 23 states had provisions related to ultrasounds and abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a national pro-abortion rights organization.

Jeff Teague, head of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, fought against the amendment. He agrees Planned Parenthood — a pro-abortion rights organization — already requires an ultrasound before every abortion and offers women a chance to view the image. Teague argues the proposed law has nothing to do with increasing safety.

"Women are given that opportunity (to view ultrasound images) now, the only difference is this is forcing women to either view the ultrasound or to have something described to them that they may not want," Teague said.

"This is about shaming women and demeaning them."

Womick's proposed regulation would not be the most restrictive in the country, but it's close. Several states require the medical provider to show the ultrasound image to the woman. Doctors must verbally offer women the chance to view ultrasound images, but women can opt against seeing them under the provisions of Womick's bill.

However, doctors would still be required to explain what's going on in the images of the ultrasound, give the woman a copy of the images and make audible any heartbeat, where present, regardless of whether the woman chooses to look at the images.

"Let her realize that its not just a blob of tissue, it's a life," Womick said.

The ultrasound would not be required in the case of a "medical emergency or spontaneous miscarriage," according to the bill.

If passed, the bill would take affect July 1. While it still needs to advance through the legislative process, the GOP-controlled legislature and GOP Gov. Bill Haslam have indicated they are open to new abortion regulations

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