This law forces a doctor, while performing an ultrasound, to describe the embryo or fetus and put pictures in front of the woman's face even if the woman says she doesn't want to see them. Imagine the pain this causes a woman who is forced to end a wanted pregnancy because of a catastrophic health emergency—or the additional trauma this unnecessary requirement will cause victims of rape or incest. No doctor should be forced to put a patient through that unnecessary trauma.

The bill became law in July when the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives voted to override a veto [JURIST reports]
by Governor Beverly Perdue [official website]. North Carolina is one of several state legislatures to have acted recently to limit abortion rights. Both Texas and Florida [JURIST reports] have recently passed bills requiring ultrasounds before abortions. In June, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit challenging the Texas law [JURIST report]. In March, South Dakota passed a law requiring a three-day waiting period [JURIST report] before an abortion—the longest waiting period requirement in the country. That law is also facing a court challenge [JURIST report]. Multiple states have acted to ban abortions after 20 weeks, when some studies suggest a fetus can begin feeling pain, including Missouri, Indiana, Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kansas and Idaho [JURIST reports].