Ultrasounds are critical in the world of pregnancy and abortion. They first became a part of obstetrical care in the late 1970s and by the 21st century it was rare, at least in this country, that a women wouldn’t have at least one ultrasound during the course of a pregnancy. And as far as abortion is concerned, nationwide, 27 states regulate some aspect of an ultrasound being performed by an abortion provider. Of these 27 states, 10 insist an abortion provider perform an ultrasound at the time of an abortion and eight states require the provider of an abortion to offer the patient the opportunity to view the image prior to an abortion. (1)
The research data pertaining to ultrasound’s role in a woman’s decision making is sparse and conflicted.
The abortion-rights advocates gleefully cite data presented in a 2014 research article of a little over 15,000 women conducted by Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles in 2011 in 19 different sites. The goal of the study was to “see if a woman’s decision to view or not view her ultrasound image was associated with a decision to continue the pregnancy.” The group of women undergoing an abortion without having an ultrasound performed was compared to a group of women voluntarily viewing their fetus by ultrasound prior to their abortion. (2)
Before diving into the weeds of this study, it amazes that the irony of a study involving Planned Parenthood in Los Angles is lost on so many: Planned Parenthood (read abortion) and Los Angeles (read City of Angels). Only a rabid abortion-rights advocate could conjure up the notion an angel would be party to the snuffing out of an innocent life!
In this study, 99% of those women presenting to Planned Parenthood who did not view an ultrasonographic image of their embryo terminated their pregnancy. Of those presenting to Planned Parenthood for an intended abortion, 98.4% proceeded with an abortion after viewing an ultrasonographic image of the life within their uterus.
“women at 17-19 weeks of gestation…were almost 20 times as likely to continue the pregnancy compared with women at less than nine weeks of gestation” after seeing their baby on an ultrasound.
The abortion-rights advocates cling to this data as if their lives depend upon it. But it is what’s lurking beneath the surface of this report that is almost as compelling – that “women at 17-19 weeks of gestation…were almost 20 times as likely to continue the pregnancy compared with women at less than nine weeks of gestation” after seeing their baby on an ultrasound.
As for the anti-abortion advocates, they recognize the obvious – that any pregnancy involves a man and a woman and the decision to abort a pregnancy often times (and should) incorporate the input of the father. The pro-life advocates make a distinction between the abortion-vulnerable and the abortion-minded client AND the presence of the father of the baby at the time of an ultrasound. Their data (3) indicate that in the abortion-vulnerable subset, 15% proceed with an abortion without viewing an ultrasound and only 6% proceed with an abortion after viewing an ultrasound when the father of the baby is present whereas, in the abortion-minded client, 74% proceed with an abortion without viewing an ultrasound and 48% proceed with an abortion after viewing an ultrasound with the father of the baby present.
The data from both studies reveal an inconvenient truth (apologies to Mr. Gore). Even in the Planned Parenthood-based study, the performance of an ultrasound altered the plans of 103 women (1.6% of 6,450) who chose life and continued their pregnancy. Think of it, 103 lives were saved.
So, yes, ultrasounds do change minds!
Dr. Lloyd Holm
Executive Director
Options for Women/River Falls
Sources
- https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/requirements-ultrasound
- https://web.archive.org/web/20180412104509/https://pdfs.journals.lww.com/greenjournal/2014/01000/Relationship_Between_Ultrasound_Viewing_and.13.pdf
- https://lozierinstitute.org/lives-saved-impact-at-us-pregnancy-help-centers/
