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Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said on Friday that he believes the mandatory ultrasound bill could cause concerns over 4th Amendment rights. McDonnell said that until the last moment, he was unaware that the bill as it was scheduled to be tabled required mandatory invasive procedure.
Admitting invasive requirements raised concerns, Gov. McDonnell said, “We realized there was differ kinds of ultrasounds, so what I recommended to the General Assembly, and they adopted the other day is, let’s make the requirement for an abdominal ultrasound. We found out through the medical community that in most cases if it is not sufficient, on their own they already do other kinds of ultrasounds. So I said let’s make those amendments. I also got legal advice from various people that these kinds of mandatory, invasive requirements might run afoul of Fourth Amendment law.”
In spite of McDonnell’s claims of ignorance to the contrary, state Senator Barbaro Favola told Huffington Post that the GOP Senators were fully aware of what was contained in the mandatory ultrasound bill before they passed it, as Senator Ralph Northam, a physician had elaborated on the Senate floor, the details of the invasive procedure.
Senator Barbaro Favola further added, “He went through in elaborate detail the fact that this was a transvaginal procedure and made very clear to the Senate exactly what this bill required women to go through.”
Though the House in Virginia passed an amended form of the mandatory ultrasound bill on Wednesday which did not require the invasive procedure the opposition was far from happy. Senator A. Donald McEachin said, “Governor McDonnell’s suggestions represent an absurd cop-out… He still wants to force women to undergo a medical procedure. He still wants to put government in between a woman and her doctor. He still wants to replace a physician’s wisdom with the judgment of politicians.”
McDonnell said that as governor, “You’re so busy advocating your agenda, you don’t read every legislator’s bill.” But that once he understood the issues involved he asked lawmakers to induct suitable changes.
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According to Guttmacher Institute that studies abortion-related issues, seven other states have laws regarding pre-abortion ultrasound tests but none of them explicitly require any transvaginal procedure.
Governor McDonnell said the bill was strongly pro-life and there has been much misinformation and undue attention surrounding the bill’s passage. “I support the bill. I still support the bill. That never forfeits a governor’s rights to make amendments,” said McDonnell.
