While many people were still out for the holiday or otherwise incapacitated yesterday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walked signed mandatory ultrasounds into law.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly signed new abortion restrictions into law on the Friday after the Fourth of July that will require “women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound and ban doctors who lack admitting privileges at nearby hospitals from performing the procedures.” [...]
The Wisconsin Medical Society, the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians, the Wisconsin Hospital Association, and the Wisconsin Public Health Association all declined to endorse the proposals when Republicans fast-tracked the bills through the legislature in June.
If virtually every non-partisan medical organization in the state declines to endorse your ultrasound mandate, it must be a great, scientifically-warranted idea, right? Maybe not.
The law will take effect this coming Monday and may lead to the closure of several clinics that perform abortions because their staff do not have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. And they will tell you that this is “for the safety of women,” which strikes me as Orwellian language used by rape culture.
