Abortion

Rhode Island Democrat Introduces Ultrasound Bill Because “Planned Parenthood Didn’t Help Me Plan”

Same old bill, but a very different type of sponsor.

Rep. Karen MacBeth. [img src]

Usually when model legislation ultrasound bills are proposed in the state houses, the legislators sponsoring them are male, Republican, or both.

But in the case of Rhode Island, a mandatory ultrasound proposal is coming from a female Democrat.

Unlike the other states, Rep. Karen MacBeth has been introducing this bill every year for the last four years.  Her reasoning?  As a single woman who had an unplanned pregnancy, she felt Planned Parenthood “let her down.”

Via the Brown Daily Herald:

MacBeth characterized the bill as “pro-information for women.” She said that she was motivated to introduce the bill by her own experience as a single and pregnant woman seeking advice about her pregnancy, which she had no plans to terminate. She said she went to the Planned Parenthood center for advice at the time. 

“I saw Planned Parenthood, and I thought it helped you plan your parenthood,” she said. “I went in, explained what I was there for, and they looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you’re in the wrong place, we don’t do that here.’” MacBeth said she realized there were women “going to Planned Parenthood or other organizations and not getting the information they should.”

As for exactly how MacBeth’s inability to get information she was seeking on prenatal care relates to forcing other women to undergo medically-unnecessary procedures prior to terminating a pregnancy?  Well, she doesn’t explain that.