A new bill in the Wyoming Legislature calls to prohibit abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected.
The current state law says, “An abortion shall not be performed after the embryo or fetus has reached viability.” The House Bill 97 replaces the words “reached viability” with “a detectable fetal heartbeat” for the proposed law.
A legal heartbeat is defined in this bill as “cardiac activity or steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac that is detectable using standard medical equipment.”
Wyoming is not the only state interested in passing abortion related legislature. Last year in Ohio, anti-abortion groups requested that it should be mandatory for women to see and hear a heartbeat before an abortion in all 50 states.
Another bill presented in the Wyoming Legislature, Senate File 88, would give pregnant women this option. Not only would they have the opportunity to hear the fetal heartbeat before abortion, they would also be informed about method use, medications and side effects or risks involved in the procedure.
According to Cheyenne Rep. Leslie Nutting, the bill does not have a stake in the pro-choice, pro-life argument. This is simply an effort to help women become informed on all the facts before they make the decision to have an abortion or not.
Based on the statistics from the Wyoming Department of Health, less than five abortions per year have been reported in the state of Wyoming.
In 2009, more than 750 abortions took place for Wyoming residents outside of the state. In Colorado there were 475 abortions, 160 in Montana and 128 in Utah. According to Kim Deti, Health Department spokesperson, women could be seeking abortions outside of the state because there are few abortion providers in Wyoming.
Travis Klingler, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Laramie, talked of the basics behind fetal heart detection.
Based on his statement, the transvaginal ultrasound can detect a heartbeat around the fifth week of pregnancy.
However, this device is not the standard with all doctors and is not always available everywhere. The only other way to detect a heartbeat is with a handheld doppler. In this case, a heartbeat would not be heard until the ninth or tenth week of pregnancy.
“Personally I find this bill too restrictive. I think that women should be able to make their decision within the first trimester instead of having as little as five weeks to go along with the procedure,” Josh Sainz, UW Senior, said.
Some feel that the legislation is an improvement.
“I’m against abortion so I think the legislation is better,” UW student Alyssa Esquibel said. “I can maybe understand in certain cases of rape or incest, but I still don’t really agree with abortion.”
Despite the changes considered by some to be infringing on pro-choice rights, both bills state that if a pregnancy threatens the life or health of a woman, she would be able to receive an abortion immediately.
