Forced sonogram and compelled speech abortion regulations: A constitutional analysis

Recent state regulations require women, before undergoing abortions, to be subjected to unwanted and nonmedically necessary sonograms, often requiring an intrusive vaginal probe. Physicians, for their part, are forced to turn the viewing screens toward the faces of their patients and to describe to them the details on the screen. In this commentary, I explain these current laws and the various court responses to them to date. Further, I demonstrate why these abortion regulations violate the ethical principles governing informed consent and why they should be declared unconstitutional based on women’s constitutional rights as settled by Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey and physicians’ First Amendment rights.