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Jessica Rodgers, 202-626-8825, mediarelations@nrlc.org

NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE APPLAUDS GOV. McDONNELL AND
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE FOR ENACTMENT OF ULTRASOUND LAW
SB 484 ensures Virginia women will be given full range of information before abortion

 WASHINGTON – Today, the National Right to Life Committee, the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, applauded Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the Virginia state legislature for enactment of SB 484, the ultrasound bill which ensures that women in the Commonwealth are given the full range of information available before undergoing an abortion procedure.  Governor McDonnell signed the bill into law today.

 "We commend Governor McDonnell and the dedicated men and women in the Virginia legislature for seeing this protective legislation enacted into law," said Carol Tobias, National Right to Life president. "We also applaud the Virginia Society for Human Life for making this law a top priority and their tireless efforts to protect and empower the women of Virginia."

The new ultrasound law provides mothers an opportunity to view real-time images of their unborn children, and then provides an appropriate waiting period before rushing her through an abortion. The final version of the bill includes language, urged by Governor McDonnell, which clarifies that only an abdominal ultrasound is necessary to meet the requirements of the law.

During the legislative debate, opponents vilified the ultrasound procedure as "invasive," even though the National Abortion Federation reports that ultrasounds are already in common use by abortionists to determine the gestational age of the unborn child.  However, the ultrasound screen is often hidden from the mother's view.

 "This basic medical information should be provided to women, but because a life-affirming choice takes business away from the abortionist, they will often hide all the facts of abortion and the child's development from mothers," observed Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., National Right to Life director of state legislation. "The outrageous misinformation propagated during the debate on this ultrasound bill exposed the abortion industry's concern for its financial bottom line at the cost of women's well-being. The truth is, the abortion industry is afraid to let women simply see the image of their own child."

 Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.