Urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to oppose House Bill 1077.

WHEREAS, Under the findings of House Bill 1077 (entitled the Women's Right-to-Know Act) it states that “many women are unaware of the state of development of their unborn child” and that “an ultrasound test is a medical procedure commonly utilized during a woman's pregnancy to determine fetal gestational age”; and

WHEREAS, The findings of House Bill 1077 also state that “an ultrasound is also commonly done prior to an abortion to determine gestational age and the location of the pregnancy” and “an ultrasound can provide useful information regarding the viability of the pregnancy and the risk of natural miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy” and “a woman considering an abortion has the right to receive complete and accurate information regarding the development and health of her unborn child”; and

WHEREAS, Due to these and other findings, House Bill 1077 would now require that “an ultrasound test which produces an ultrasound image shall be performed upon the patient by or for the physician who is to perform the abortion” and the “ultrasound test shall be used to make an accurate determination of gestational age of the unborn child”; and

WHEREAS, Although having the additional medical information provided by an ultrasound test provides various health benefits to women, House Bill 1077 requires an unnecessary medical procedure that should be first approved by a patient after consultation with her physician and not mandated by the Commonwealth as a precursor to an elective health decision; and

WHEREAS, And considering that House Bill 1077 requires that an ultrasound test be used to determine the gestational age of an unborn child, this legislation may require physicians across the Commonwealth to perform the highly controversial “transvaginal” probe on their patients in order to be in compliance with state law and not face administrative, civil, and criminal penalties; and

WHEREAS, And due to these concerns, numerous physicians, including the Pennsylvania Medical Association and the Pennsylvania section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, oppose House Bill 1077 because it would interfere with the doctor/patient relationship and require an unnecessary medical procedure at an added cost to the patient; and

WHEREAS, House Bill 1077 is an unnecessary government intrusion into the rights of women and their health and various abortion opponents have raised concerns about similar legislation including Virginia's Republican Governor Bob McDonnell who stated that “[n]o person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure”; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby urge the Pennsylvania General Assembly to oppose House Bill 1077.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be sent to the Majority and Minority leadership of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Philadelphia Delegation of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and the Governor as a representation of the true wishes and sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

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