Utah lawmakers are working to make sure the abortion industry provides accurate information to mothers about their unborn babies.
Informed consent legislation is vital because women have said abortion facilities deceived them about their unborn babies’ development and refused to allow them to see the unborn babies via ultrasound.
KUTV 2 reports state Rep. Steve Christiansen, R-West Jordan, recently introduced a bill to require Utah abortion facilities to give mothers the opportunity to see their unborn babies on an ultrasound and hear their baby’s heartbeat.
Utah House Bill 34 would require an ultrasound to be performed, the image on the ultrasound to be described and the baby’s heartbeat made audible, if possible. It would allow pregnant moms to choose not to hear the heartbeat or see the ultrasound, but it does require the abortion facility to offer both. Abortion facilities that fail to do so could face fines of up to $250,000.
Merrilee Boyack, of Abortion-Free Utah, said the legislation will help ensure women receive “good, clear, accurate information” before making a final decision about their unborn baby, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
“I think hiding the scientific reality of what they are experiencing and the development of the child, I think that is cruel,” Boyack said.
Boyack said more than 3,000 unborn babies are killed in abortions every year in Utah, or about eight babies a day.
Previously, she said mothers “need clear information. They need to know that abortion has life-long consequences for them. They need to know that giving their babies life is the healthiest and best choice that they can make. … Babies, mothers, fathers will all be blessed by choosing life.”
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But abortion activists in the state are lobbying against the proposal. The Utah branch of the ACLU claimed the bill could create “anguish” for women seeking abortions and it is “medically unnecessary,” according to the newspaper.
Lauren Simpson, of the pro-abortion Alliance for a Better Utah, slammed the bill as “cruel” while undermining the fact that an unborn baby has a heartbeat, according to KUTV.
“Under Utah law, a woman already has the option to watch an ultrasound and listen to that cardiac rhythm if she chooses. Forcing that experience on someone while permitting her to ‘avert her eyes’ or request for the volume to be lowered or turned off is not a legitimate exception to this mandate,” Simpson said.
Ultrasounds are common procedures prior to an abortion. They also provide valuable information to pregnant moms prior to making a final decision about their baby’s life.
Tegra Little, a former Planned Parenthood patient, said she did not receive counseling and was not allowed to look at her baby’s ultrasound before her abortion.
“I asked her if I could see the screen, and she said, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘Why not?’ She said, ‘It’s against our policy.’ Then she told me, ‘There’s nothing to see, it’s just tissue,’” Little said.
Other women have described similar experiences.
For years, the abortion industry has been working against informed consent legislation, keeping women in the dark about their unborn babies and blocking them from hearing their baby’s heartbeat or seeing them on an ultrasound screen. This important information can help change women’s minds and encourage them to choose life for their unborn babies. It also cuts into the abortion industry’s bottom line.
A survey by the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates found that 78 percent of abortion-minded or abortion-vulnerable women chose life after seeing an ultrasound image of their unborn baby. Most women (83.5 percent) also said the ultrasound had a positive impact on their decision to choose life for their baby.
