A bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound took another step toward passage in the Virginia Senate Monday — but not before outnumbered Democrats rose to express their opposition in clinical terms.
Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax proposed an amendment — that any man seeking prescription medication for erectile dysfunction must first submit to a digital rectal exam and cardiac stress test.
Howell told colleagues on the Senate floor that she was proposing the amendment because Senate Bill 484 requires women "to have an unnecessary medical procedure, it's adding to the cost and it's opening them up for emotional blackmail."
"I think we should just have a little gender equity here," Howell added.
Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, sponsor of the bill that would require an ultrasound, responded: "I do believe that erectile dysfunction, in this context, is different from pregnancy."
The Senate defeated Howell's amendment 22-18. Vogel's bill then advanced on a voice vote to its third reading. It is expected to clear the full Senate Tuesday and head to the GOP-dominated House.
Howell was among seven Democrats on the Education and Health Committee last week who voted to defeat the bill, which passed 8-7 along party lines.
Proponents said it was a necessary part of the informed consent component to the procedure and important to determine the gestational age of the fetus.
Abortion-rights advocates countered that the measure, which also instructs a provider to ask the woman if she wishes to view the ultrasound, was unnecessary and violates the doctor-patient relationship.
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