Unicameral debates two abortion bills

Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln couldn't decide between two ideas for how to  make ultrasounds more available to women considering an abortion — so he introduced both to the Nebraska Legislature.

LB675 would require doctors taking ultrasounds to display the images for patients to see at least an hour before abortion procedures. The other bill, LB676, would require abortion centers to either provide ultrasounds or give women a list of places where they can get ultrasounds free of charge, if the women request it.

"It's two different approaches to achieve the same goal," Fulton said. "The intention here is to make ultrasounds available to the mothers."

Although he holds a preference for LB675, he wanted to present both options and have the legislature decide what is best for Nebraska, Fulton said.

Critics of the bills say the requirements intrude on the patient-doctor relationship, and that it's not the legislature's place to say which medical procedures should be performed.

The legislature passes bills requiring things of doctors all the time, Fulton said, and this is no different.

Neither of the bills would likely affect the University Health Center, said Dr. Mary Lutz, a physician at the center, because it does not provide ultrasounds.

The bill does not seem like an intrusion on the patient-doctor relationship, Lutz said, since it does not mandate that a doctor has to perform an ultrasound.

The National Right to Life Committee supports LB675, said Mary Spaulding Balch, state legislative director of the organization. This bill puts responsibility on the abortion provider to give all available information, rather than putting the responsibility on the mother to request an ultrasound.

"It places the burden where it belongs," she said. "This is part of an informed consent."
Giving all possible information to the woman, including an ultrasound, could make her reconsider her decision to get an abortion, Balch said.

"The law will have a positive impact and will translate into saving lives," she said.
Lutz was not so sure this bill becoming law would actually discourage many women from having abortions.

With over-the-counter pregnancy tests so widely available, most women know fairly quickly they are pregnant, she said, so by the time they get to a doctor to have an abortion, they probably have already made up their minds.

Most abortion clinics in Nebraska already perform ultrasounds as a standard procedure, Fulton said, so there would not be much of an increase in cost for clinics because of LB675.

"It's not asking for anything more than has already become standard," he said. "We can at least ask that doctor to make that information available to the mother."

jennagibson@dailynebraskan.com