Novice Texas Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, was the show again today in Austin as he argued successfully to a Senate committee that any woman seeking an abortion would have to have an ultrasound first. Physicians would be required to perform the test and review the results with the pregnant patient.
The “compromise” in SB 920 is that the woman wouldn’t have to look. She would still have to certify in writing that she’d been offered the opportunity to look. No word on whether blinders will be issued in the examining room or if she’ll just have to squeeze her eyes shut tightly. No word either on who is going to pay for all those ultrasounds.
It’s hard to see how conservative Patrick can square all this with a central premise of the Republican Party which was supposed to be keeping Big Government out of people’s personal lives. — Margaret Downing
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 2, 2007.
