ST. PAUL, Minn. - A bill requiring doctors to give pregnant women the option to see an ultrasound before having an abortion has cleared the Minnesota Legislature.
The House passed the bill Thursday by a 79-48 vote. Several Democrats joined Republicans to approve the measure, which the Senate passed earlier this month.
"The intent of the bill is not actually to change anybody’s mind, but rather to give them the information so they can make up their own mind," said Rep. Abigail Whelan, a Republican from Anoka County who authored the bill.
Whelan said the regulation will help give women more information before deciding to have an abortion.
"The information we’re offering to women in this bill is a picture, and some women would really appreciate that picture."
Democrats argued it's a veiled attempt to hinder women's access to abortions, and to come between women and their medical providers.
"And we’re talking about one specific medical procedure and interfering with one specific relationship between a doctor and a patient," Rep. Laurie Halverson, and Eagan Democrat, told her colleagues.
"What the Minnesota Legislature is saying is that women do not know their minds, and women do not know their hearts, and that women do not know their bodies."
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and South Dakota said it's already the policy and standard practice for physicians who perform abortions, to inform women they can see the ultrasound.
The debate on the bill expanded to the broader topic of abortion itself.
Rep. Mary Franson, an Alexandria Republican, said abortion isn't a women's health issue because it involves "exterminating babies" -- a reference to the pro-life movement's stance that legalized abortions are America's version of the Holocaust.
DFL Rep. Erin Maye Quade of Apple Valley pointed out that not all abortions are about ending pregnancies, citing a friend who had to have an abortion after her baby died in utero. Maye Quade said it would be cruel to ask a woman in that situation if she wanted to see the ultrasound image of the stillborn child in the womb.
The debate is a familiar topic at the Capitol, but it faces stiff odds at becoming law.
Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed many bills restricting abortion access in the past and has vowed to block any legislation aimed at making it more difficult to get abortions.