HOUSTON—Women seeking an abortion in Texas will now have to receive a sonogram 24 hours before the procedure is done.
They can decide not to look at it or listen to the heartbeat, but they "must" hear about the fetus’ development.
"So it’s really about giving women the opportunity to make an informed decision so that they would not having regret, and discovered that this was a baby that was aborted," Joe Pojman, Executive Director of Texas Alliance for Life, said.
If doctors don’t comply, they could face up to a $10,000 fine or possibly lose their medical license.
On just the first day, Planned Parenthood provided 55 women with sonograms. The organization disagrees with the law.
"They know what they want, and yet they’re forced to make them go through these hoops, jump over hurdles and essentially second-guess a very personal, medical decision," Rochelle Tafolla from Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast said.
Just outside Planned Parenthood is the Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center. It gives free ultrasounds with the hope mothers will change their minds.
Mobile Pregnancy Center shared its numbers and stated nine out of 10 women who see the ultrasounds they give back out of abortions.
Planned Parenthood says the sonograms, now required by state law, are only a way of "legally" second-guessing a woman’s right to choose.
