Win of the Day: Idaho ultrasound bill officially dead

Buh-bye!

[House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona] said of the bill, “The big problem that’s been identified is the mandatory ultrasound.” He said it presents a significant enough legal problem that it could cause a federal court to toss out Idaho’s entire existing informed-consent law for abortion. “We certainly don’t want to do damage to that,” he said.

He said he suggested to pro-life advocates that they “make a run at this in a little bit different way” next year.

The bill would have required any Idaho woman seeking an abortion to first undergo an ultrasound; in some cases early in pregnancy, an invasive trans-vaginal procedure would have been required to get the information required in the bill, including recording fetal heartbeat and gestational age.

And they may very well have more traction if they follow in Virginia’s footsteps next year. Just cut out the transvaginal rapey requirement and we’ll be as good as gold!

But in the meantime, this is good news to celebrate.