The Arkansas House passed a bill (SB 729) Monday requiring abortion providers to offer women an ultrasound image of the fetus prior to undergoing an abortion, reported Kaisernetwork. Sponsored by Rep. Cecile Bledsoe (R) and Sen. Bobby Glover (D), the bill would mandate that physicians maintain patients’ written signed acceptance/rejection files for a minimum of three years. Violators could face disciplinary action from the state medical board. Rep. Jay Bradford (D), chair of the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor criticized the measure saying it created unnecessary emotion burden on an already difficult decision. “You really want them to have that image, to take that with them forever? É I don’t know that the guilt involved in that is something we should be promoting,” he told the Associated Press according to Kaisernetwork. Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is expected to sign the bill, which passed the Senate last month.
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