The sonogram bill sponsored by District 33 Senator Dennis Schmidt takes effect today.
SB 88 had a tough push, and for a while it looked like it might not make it when it was killed in committee by Senators Jerstad, Katus, (Ed) Olson, Two Bulls, and Dempster.
But it was successfully "smoked out" and passed the Senate 22-12; Senator Katus of Dist. 32 and Senator McCracken were, I believe, the only Rapid City-area senators to vote against it.
It passed the state House 38-32, and was signed into law by Governor Mike Rounds.
Section 1 of the bill says
No facility that performs abortions may perform an abortion on a pregnant woman without first offering the pregnant woman an opportunity to view a sonogram of her unborn child. The woman's response to the offer shall be documented by the facility, including the date and time of the offer and the woman's signature attesting to her informed decision.
There are few medical decisions more heavy than the decision to have an abortion. In addition to "terminat[ing] the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being," as Planned Parenthood will be required to inform women of in a few days, abortion can also lead to depression, substance abuse, increased breast cancer risk, and suicide risk.
A woman should have every bit of information possible when making this monumental decision, and the sonograms Senator Schmidt fought to obtain for women are an important part of that information.
0 comments:
Post a Comment