skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

TN Lawmakers Set to Debate New 'Ultrasound Bill'

play audio
Play

Monday, February 8, 2016   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Women in Tennessee would be forced to consider viewing an ultrasound picture of their fetus before receiving an abortion, if a bill before a state House subcommittee is ultimately passed.

The Ultrasound Right to Know Act also would require women to sign a form saying they were offered the ability to hear their fetus' heartbeat and see its image before an abortion is performed.

Currently, abortion providers typically require ultrasounds before every abortion, but Jeff Teague, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, says it's between a woman and her doctor whether the results are reviewed before the procedure.

"This bill would prescribe the standard of care,” he points out. “That interferes in the doctor-patient relationship and really ties the doctor's hands to decide what is the best course of treatment and standard of care when dealing with a patient."

The House Health Subcommittee will consider the bill on Tuesday. Similar legislation was proposed last year.

Half of all states have some provision regulating abortions and ultrasounds, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive health and rights advocacy and research organization. But it says only three states mandate that a woman receive an ultrasound and see the image before the procedure is performed.

Supporters of such legislation say it is needed to protect the rights of the unborn child.

Teague says the bill violates the rights of women and interferes with a private and personal matter.

"The intention of the bill is not to provide women with any additional information, to give them any more information that will help them make really informed decisions, but instead is designed to demean and shame women," he maintains.

According to RH Reality Check, a reproductive and sexual health advocacy site, there have been 147 “anti-choice” bills introduced in state legislatures so far this year, and at least 69 percent of them were sponsored by men.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…


Data show Oak Ridge residents pay $2.67 million in taxes toward nuclear weapons programs. (fizkes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021