New Texas law will make getting an abortion harder than ever

On Sept. 1, the already complex road to abortion is going to get longer and more onerous.

That's the date the state's new sonogram law takes effect if it survives a court challenge by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

In the balance is a host of concerns regarding the implications of what the law, enacted by Gov. Rick Perry last month, will mean for doctors and young women in Texas.

The law requires a woman, regardless of age, to have a sonogram 24 hours before the procedure or if she lives more than 100 miles from the clinic, two hours prior to the procedure.

The doctor must provide a detailed verbal description of the fetus and make the heartbeat audible. The law also requires that the woman be presented with a list of agencies that provide free sonograms.

Yvonne Gutierrez, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood, said that while offering a list of agencies that perform free sonograms has been presented by legislators as an attempt to assist women, it is actually a move to steer those seeking abortions into "women's crisis clinics," where they will be counseled against having the abortion.

Gutierrez asserts that the only agencies offering free sonograms are run by anti-abortion organizations.

"It makes it very clear that that was the intent," she said, also noting that the law will require women to endure what she describes as a shameful, humiliating, unnecessary and potentially unconstitutional procedure.

"This is a First Amendment right violated," Gutierrez said. "If a woman is on a table with her legs in stirrups and a trans-vaginal probe, how is she going to escape? Part of the First Amendment is captured audience" or, in other words, coerced speech.

Gutierrez's main concern is that presented with such a process, women may turn to less safe avenues for abortions.

"Our greatest fear is for women who seek other options involving hurting themselves," Gutierrez said.

The 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling protected patient privacy, opening the way for women to legally terminate a pregnancy. Prior to that time, women seeking abortions were forced to turn to often unsanitary and unlicensed providers.

Those conditions often meant infection, hemorrhaging or death. Some women were never able to have children.

Advocates of women's rights to abortion anticipate a time that women without options will turn to the Internet for do-it-yourself instructions, returning the practice to back alleys.

The National Center for Reproductive Rights broaches the law from a different angle.

Their lawsuit is filed on behalf of Texas Medical Providers Performing Abortion Services and asserts the law violates First Amendment rights of doctors and discriminates against women.

The center argues that some portions of the law force doctors to violate medical ethics and practice.

Gutierrez agrees, saying, "It's such a severe violation of practice."

Another concern is the effect the law will have on today's female teens.

In 2006, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 70 percent of legal abortions were performed on women younger than 30; 17 percent, younger than 19.

Currently, teens can obtain a judicial bypass of parental consent under some circumstances.

"In Texas, if a minor doesn't want to talk to their parents about a pregnancy due to issues of violence or fear of being kicked out, they can receive a judicial bypass," Gutierrez said.

"If a teen obtains an abortion from judicial bypass, they would not have to abide by the new law."

For those teens who have parental consent, however, the law will apply just as if the girl is an adult.

Yazmin Ibarra is a pregnant 17-year-old senior at Warren High School. For such teens, the issue can be quite complex.

"I actually did consider abortion, but not at the beginning of my pregnancy; I was never in favor of abortion," Ibarra said.

"I considered abortion because I felt like I was trapped, like I had no way out."

Although Ibarra decided against the abortion and is still opposed to abortion, she understands the difficulty the law will present for teens like herself.

"I think the law would have made it a lot tougher to even consider abortion," she said. "With all the details the doctor gives, it makes you feel guilty for even considering the option."

However, Ibarra is in favor of the law.

"As far as the law, I feel like everyone should be informed about how the baby is growing – even though they don't want to; they need to realize it's a human being," she said.

At the same time, Ibarra, like Gutierrez, sees the potential of women going through different routes, which could be quite dangerous, to abortions to avoid the mandated steps.

"The women who get scared and don't want to go through the process may try to handle things in their own hands, which may lead them to not go to the doctor until the damage was done," Ibarra said.

Gutierrez said the law actually will not do anything to reduce abortions, but it definitely will make the process much harder for women who choose to have them.

"The number of women seeking abortions will not decline, only the manner in which they are handled," Gutierrez said.