Okla. Law Requiring Ultrasound Before Abortion is Challenged

Constitutional Law

Okla. Law Requiring Ultrasound Before Abortion is Challenged

Posted Oct 13, 2008, 06:01 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A suit has been filed challenging an Oklahoma law that bars physicians from performing abortions unless they first conduct an ultrasound and describe the fetus.

Oklahoma is the fourth state mandating ultrasounds but the only state requiring the doctor to turn the ultrasound screen toward the patient and to describe the fetus, including the dimensions, the Associated Press reports. The law also bars damage claims for physicians’ failure to discover and warn pregnant women when their babies will be born with birth defects.

The suit filed Thursday in Oklahoma County court seeks to overturn the law based on a constitutional right to privacy, and asks for an injunction barring the statute from taking effect on Nov. 1, the Tulsa World reports. The action was filed on behalf of an abortion provider by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

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Posted by Eliyahu - 1 month, 3 weeks, 19 hours, 12 minutes ago

I’d say it’s time for the government to quit trying to be a third person in the room with a patient and her doctor. Until the legislature requires a medical degree for all elected members, the govt should let patients and doctors decide for themselves what treatments and procedures are best for each person. Politicians are just laymen when it comes to medical procedures and have no business trying to micromanage a medical practice.

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