Wyoming Bill Would Require Ultrasounds Before Abortion

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming lawmaker is introducing a bill that would require doctors to offer ultrasounds to women seeking abortions.

Rep. Chuck Gray, a Casper Republican, is sponsoring a bill that would require doctors to inform women 24 hours before an abortion that they have "a right to view an active ultrasound" of the fetus and listen to the fetus' heartbeat, if possible.

The measure contains exemptions for cases of medical emergency.

Gray said in an email that ultrasounds are already performed before abortions, but the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation says that is not necessarily true for abortions performed during the first 36 weeks of pregnancy.

The organization Women for Women says neither of the two abortion providers in Wyoming offers abortions after 12 weeks.