Essay On Fetal Sonograms

I believe that all women considering abortion should be provided with the option to view the fetal sonograms, but should not be required to view the image if they do not desire to. The fetal sonogram, or ultrasound is a medically recommended procedure for various reasons throughout the pregnancy’s trimesters, but there is no medical recommendation for getting one prior to an abortion (American Pregnancy Association, 2017). There is currently a lot of research going on looking into whether or not viewing a fetal sonogram changes the mind of pregnant women to not proceed with the abortion. Beginning in the mid-1990s, there has been a movement to push fetal sonograms into being a part of the process to get an abortion (Guttmacher Institute, 2017). There are two common themes that have appeared in most …show more content…
Of these 26 states, three mandate the providers to perform the ultrasound and show the image to the woman, describing the image in detail, where 11 states mandate the ultrasound to be performed, but only ten of those require the provider to offer the opportunity to the woman to view the image (Guttmacher Institute, 2017). Nine of the 26 states require the facility to perform the fetal sonogram as part of the preparation for the procedure and require the facility to offer the chance to view the image, where only seven states require the choice be provided for an opportunity for a fetal sonogram (Guttmacher Institute, 2017). As there is no medical necessity for a fetal sonogram, the purpose of the procedure seems to be “a veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion” (Guttmacher Institute, 2017, para 1). Others argue that the abortion procedure is dangerous, but abortion is one of the safest medical procedures to be performed, with less than 0.05% of cases experiencing complications from the procedure (Guttmacher Institute,