When legislators play doctor: the ethics of mandatory preabortion ultrasound examinations

Abstract

Many states have proposed or enacted laws that mandate that women undergo ultrasonography before electing pregnancy termination. In some cases, the legislation prescribes the form of ultrasound examination, requires that a woman review the images produced, or both. Although ultrasonography may be a part of good and standard care before many abortion procedures, we argue that legislating imaging procedures inappropriately limits women's autonomy and undermines the physician-patient relationship as well as the physician's professional obligations to the patient. The timing, context, and way in which ultrasonography, or any medical test, is used and viewed should be decisions made between patient and provider, not decisions scripted by law.