Dear Editorial Board,
If the issue over the Florida ultrasound bill comes down to the patient-doctor relationship and the right to privacy, we then have only one question to ask. How does showing a woman the fetus that is actively growing inside her a violation of those rights? In fact, it makes more sense to state that good medical practice would behoove the doctor to show the patient everything that is being operated on. I see an MRI or CT scan before I undergo any surgical procedure. How is this any different?
What exactly are the doctors trying to hide from the patient? The answer is clear. Abortion providers are worried that showing an ultrasound image to a pregnant woman will sway her decision against undergoing the abortion. Why would that be? She would see a beating heart, hands reaching out and the head of a human fetus resting serenely in the womb. Of course this would cause the woman to think twice about undergoing the procedure.
If the woman decides to continue on, then that is her choice. If she decides to stop the procedure, that is also her choice. It is not the doctor’s choice to hide information from the patient in the hopes of swaying her decision. The true health care dilemma here is not big government denying the woman her fundamental right to healthcare. The dilemma here is the doctor denying the woman full knowledge of exactly the procedure she is undergoing and the consequences of that procedure.
Andrew Tomonto is a sophomore majoring in finance.