An Oklahoma court has thrown out a state law requiring women to see the ultrasound picture of their babies before getting an abortion. Pro-choicers and pro-lifers agree that ultrasounds result in fewer abortions, so the former decry the practice while the latter are all for it. But First Things blogger Keith Pavlischek raises the question: Aren’t the pro-choicers saying they want to reduce the number of abortions? Wouldn’t ultrasounds be part of the “common ground” between the two sides that President Obama and moderate evangelicals claim to be looking for?
Both the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute and the pro-life Focus on the Family agree that the widespread use of ultrasounds for women contemplating abortions will reduce the number of abortions. The use of ultrasounds in pregnancy counseling, in other words, is a proven “abortion reduction strategy.”