March 3, 2003
Ultrasounds latest weapon in battle for & against abortion
___By Mark O'Keefe
___Religion News Service
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--Pregnant and distressed, 23-year-old Rebekah Nancarrow walked in to a faith-based pregnancy center in Dallas "95 percent certain I was going to have an abortion."
___What turned her around was seeing an ultrasound. "She was moving, she was kicking, she had legs," said Nancarrow, who said she promised on the spot, "I will take care of you."
___Such dramatic decisions thrill anti-abortion activists, who see detailed ultrasound images as a high-tech way to change minds about abortion. But abortion-rights groups oppose the practice, arguing that ultrasound becomes a manipulative weapon when put in the hands of religious activists trying to persuade pregnant, vulnerable women.
PHYSICIAN Rhonda Kendrick (left), sonographer Kathy Lewandoski (center) and nurse Anne Michael of the Rockville Pregnancy Center in Rockville, Md., conduct an ultrasound exam while a patient reviews images of fetuses similar in age to the one she is carrying. (Susanna Robb/RNS Photo)
___The two sides are clashing over a $3 million bill, backed mostly by Republicans, that would provide up to half the cost of ultrasound equipment, which ranges from $20,000 to more than $100,000. The money would go only to non-profit centers that do not charge for services. The vast majority of pregnancy centers that fit this description oppose abortion.
___A similar bill went nowhere last year, but its chances are somewhat improved by Republicans controlling Congress.
___Even without the funding, about 350 of an estimated 2,500 anti-abortion pregnancy centers around the country have ultrasound equipment. It appears to be working as intended, according to officials at several centers, who report many changes among "abortion-minded" women once they see ultrasounds of their fetuses.
___Dolores Pretorius, a professor of radiology at the University of California at San Diego, is a pioneer in developing the latest generation of ultrasound technology, which can provide moving pictures of small details such as an ear or chin.
___Pretorius, who says she is "pro-choice," has been fascinated by the impact the images seem to have. She plans to conduct a study that quantifies the impact, but says her "gut feeling" is that the images do affect women's abortion decisions. Pretorius called the use of ultrasound to persuade women "not great" because "it's a difficult decision." On the other hand, she said, "What is is. Women do have a right to know what their fetuses look like."
___When used by faith-based pregnancy centers opposing abortion, ultrasound "isn't a matter of providing more knowledge, but an attempt to manipulate women," said Susanne Martinez, Planned Parenthood's vice president for public policy in Washington.
___Planned Parenthood, which also sometimes provides ultrasounds and gets federal family planning funds for poor people, would not be eligible for assistance under the bill because it charges for ultrasound and other services.
___Both sides see the stakes as high.
___"If we can get it into a woman's mind, regardless of her age, that it's standard medical procedure to have an ultrasound when you're pregnant, that in itself will change the debate on abortion in this country," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. "Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power, and that's why this is a threat to Planned Parenthood."
___Even if the bill fails, the movement to expose pregnant women to ultrasounds will continue, said Tom Glessner, president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, an organization in Fredericksburg, Va., that provides legal advice and arranges medical training for pregnancy centers wanting to provide ultrasounds.
___Nancarrow, whose baby girl was born last spring, said she first went to Planned Parenthood in fall 2001 when she discovered she was pregnant. Her boyfriend had told her he was not ready to be a father and would leave her if she didn't abort the pregnancy.
___She received an $80 ultrasound at Planned Parenthood, she said, but was told she couldn't see the results because "that will only make it harder on you."
___Nancarrow, upset and ambivalent, visited the Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center, where she remembers saying, "I'm only here to give you one shot to get another view on this."
___"I honestly have to say that had I not had the (ultrasound), I would have had the abortion. But that sonogram just confirmed 100 percent to me that this was a life within me, not a tissue or a glob."
___
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