Commentary

The House of Representatives passed HB516 on Tuesday by a wide margin. 56 legislators supported the idea of giving women more information about their babies before an abortion.  13 of 14 Democrats in the chamber stood proudly with Planned Parenthood.

The legislation is fairly modest: It would require the state to provide a list of pregnancy centers who offer free ultrasounds to pregnant women.

And yet, access to ultrasounds is one of the most powerful tools we have to combat the denial which permeates the abortion decision. A look at a moving, living, wondrous independent life in the womb makes it almost impossible to hang on to the self-deception that there is just a collection of cancerous-like cells invading a woman’s body.

Planned Parenthood knows the power of ultrasound. They fought the measure tooth-and-nail in committee.  During that hearing before the House State Affairs Committee, Planned Parenthood tried to posture itself as already offering this service.  Under some intense questioning, however, it became clear that Planned Parenthood uses ultrasound as part of its abortion procedure – so a woman would already have to commit to killing her baby in order to access Planned Parenthood’s “service”.

Of course, Planned Parenthood proudly proclaims that it “trusts women” and happily provides them with all the “scientific” information they need to choose abortion. But the truth is – they have fought every single measure over the past 25 years to ensure that women get information about the risks and alternatives to abortion.  Every one.

One of the more bizarre turns of this legislative debate can be found in the press coverage of the House debate. Betsy Russell, of the Spokesman Review, actually reported a gender tally of those debating for and against the bill on the House floor.  Russell, who clearly has no sympathy for the pro-Life movement, was apparently trying to help advance the narrative that abortion is solely a “woman’s issue”.

In response to such a suggestion, bill sponsor Rep. Ron Nate (R-Rexburg) argued on the House floor: “I’m a man, I’m a husband, I’m a father of three beautiful daughters … I also have a mother. To say that a man can’t have a voice here in terms of respecting women … is mistaken.”