A provision of a North Carolina law that required women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound and view its results has been blocked earlier this week by the Fourth Circuit court of appeals.
In its ruling, the Fourth Circuit determined that the law prohibits a physician’s right to free speech by mandating what conversations doctors are required to have with their patients, “while simultaneously threatening harm to the patient’s psychological health, interfering with the physician’s professional judgment, and compromising the doctor-patient relationship.”
The court also expressed that such a measure seeks to actively humiliate women who do not wish to see this ultrasound and hear their doctors discuss it by forcing her to close “her eyes and covering her ears while her physician — a person to whom she should be encouraged to listen —recites information to her.”
The parts of the law that require a 24-hour waiting period and counseling before an abortion remain in effect. The law was passed in 2011.
It's odd to me that people are ready and willing to keep women in the dark about what is actually happening to their bodies. Abortion is a medical procedure, and should be treated like other medical procedures. An abortionist in Oklahoma was recently arrested after selling abortion drugs to undercover police officers--who weren't even pregnant. This would be unheard of in any other medical scenario. Lying by omission doesn't serve the best interest of women.
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