Preaching to the choir

Is there any other doctor-patient conversation that garners as much legislative attention as the conversation that occurs before a woman is allowed to exercise her right to an abortion? Our resident builder of legislative roadblocks is proposing the sonogram bill, requiring doctors to offer women one last chance to see a sonogram and hear a fetal heart monitor. He calls it "the woman's right to know and see" bill. Details here.

I know I've complained about these kinds of paternalistic bills before, but this one is being proposed in my state. I don't want it. And the women of the state don't need it. We're actually quite capable of making decisions for ourselves, even extremely difficult, emotionally-draining decisions. We're also quite capable of asking our doctors for whatever information we want or need prior to making our decisions. And, believe it or not, we're more than capable of living with the consequences of our decisions once we've made them.

I'm pretty sure the legislators of my state have more pressing matters to deal with, like a $2-300 million budget shortfall. They should probably focus on that instead of micro-managing doctor-patient communications. The doctors (professionals) and the women (grown-ups) can take care of themselves.