WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act, which would require abortion providers to perform an obstetric ultrasound and make the heartbeat of an unborn baby audible before a woman gives consent to an abortion.
“The science doesn’t agree with those who advocate for abortion up until death, so they resort to dehumanizing the child,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Every unborn baby is a life deserving a future. This legislation ensures mothers are well-informed before making a decision to terminate a life.”
“Pregnant mothers should have access to as much information as we can give them about their unborn children, including an ultrasound,” said Senator Lankford. “President Biden is obsessed with abortion. Progressives in the Senate recently pushed a bill to increase abortion, to mandate that every state allow abortion on demand until birth, and make it illegal for a medical professional to share medical information on the baby, like an ultrasound, with pregnant mothers. That is tragic and wrong. The goal of pro-abortion lawmakers is to hide medical information from moms to increase abortions. When a mother sees her baby—a person with a heartbeat, ten fingers, ten toes, and unique DNA from his or her mother—she will know more about her child before making a decision that will take the life of her child.”
Cassidy and Lankford are joined by Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Rick Scott (R-FL).
The Ultrasound Informed Consent Act would require abortion providers to conduct an ultrasound before performing an abortion.
Specifically, before a woman gives informed consent to any part of an abortion, the abortion provider must:
- perform an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant woman;
- provide a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting;
- display the ultrasound images so the woman may view them;
- make audible the live heart auscultation and provide a verbal explanation of it; and
- provide a complete medical description of the images, including the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, cardiac activity if present and visible, and the presence of arms, legs, external members, and internal organs if present and viewable, and provide a copy of the ultrasound image to the woman.
On February 28th, Cassidy voted against the Democrats’ radical Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act, or the so-called the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have banned state-mandated reflection times between the ultrasound and the abortion, among other provisions.
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