The Idaho House on Tuesday voted 56-13 to approve a measure (HB 516) that would require abortion providers to tell a woman seeking abortion care where she could receive an ultrasound at no cost, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports (AP/Sacramento Bee, 3/1).
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Ron Nate (R), would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to assemble a list of facilities that provide a woman seeking abortion care with no-cost ultrasounds. Abortion providers would be required to include the list in the packet of state-mandated information they are obligated to give to a woman.
Opponents of the bill have raised concerns that most ultrasounds provided at no cost would primarily be offered by antiabortion-rights crisis pregnancy centers, and noted that the bill does not require that the provider offering no-cost ultrasounds give patients medically accurate information.
Currently, state law mandates that a woman be offered the opportunity to view the ultrasound if one is performed by an abortion provider (Women's Health Policy Report, 2/29).
