In Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday, the Republican controlled House passed the "Abortion: Informed Consent" bill 63-36. This follows the State Senate which already passed the bill on February 1st with a vote of 21-18.
The bill requires any woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy to undergo an ultrasound prior to the procedure. There is no opting out and whether or not the woman chose to view the fetus will be documented on her medical chart.
What the bill doesn't say is that Virginia law, like many states, only performs abortions up to 14 weeks gestation.
For most women, this means before the state of Virginia will allow them to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, they will be forced undergo a transvaginal ultrasound (pictured below) since the fetus will be too small to view via pelvic ultrasound.
So, according to Virginia's own laws, legislators will now be requiring women to undergo sexual assault as a medical procedure.
Abortion; informed consent. Requires that, as a component of informed consent to an abortion, to determine gestation age, every pregnant female shall undergo ultrasound imaging and be given an opportunity to view the ultrasound image of her fetus prior to the abortion. The medical professional performing the ultrasound must obtain written certification from the woman that the opportunity was offered and whether the woman availed herself of the opportunity to see the ultrasound image or hear the fetal heartbeat. A copy of the ultrasound and the written certification shall be maintained in the woman's medical records at the facility where the abortion is to be performed.