The Vagina Dialogues

Talk about the vagina was all the rage this past week in the Republican-controlled Virginia legislature. With the backing of their Republican governor, Bob McDonnell,Virginia lawmakers put forth a bill requiring women seeking an abortion, even in the earliest stages of a pregnancy, first undergo an ultrasound. To all but those who enjoy sophistry, the intent of the backers of the bill was clearly to set up obstacles for women seeking what are, under current law, perfectly legal abortions.

Yet it seems that very few of the Republicans backing the original ultrasound bill knew what goes on in a gynecologist’s office, and what, exactly, an early ultrasound in a pregnancy entails.

Slowly, as people realized what, exactly, an early ultrasound (i.e., transvaginal ultrasound) entails, legislators and the governor balked. On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart made sport of the whole lot of them, using the occasion to offer the entire nation an explicit bit of sex education on what a transvaginal exam actually is—namely, an exam where the woman must lie on her back, spread her legs and place her feet in stirrups, and then permit an examiner (who in many if not most cases is an entire stranger, not to mention frequently of the male persuasion) to insert a probe (a transducer) into her vagina.

In their infinite wisdom, the Virginia governor and legislature, once they learned this (and facing a barrage of criticism) decided that a law requiring this was “too invasive.”  They backed off from requiring transvaginal exams, instead passing legislation requiring women seeking a legal abortion first undergo an external, transabdominal ultrasound, and then wait 24 hours before obtaining an abortion.

That this transabdominal ultrasound, although harmless, is medically unwarranted, doesn’t bother Republican “pro-life” legislators. Heck, what’s the State for if not to make laws requiring expensive medical procedures that, from a medical and scientific standpoint, are utterly unnecessary? Although Republicans tout their fiscal conservatism, when it comes to abortion, they draw the line.

To this pro-choice supporter, requiring a woman to have an ultrasound and wait 24 hours before having an abortion comes from the idea that grown women are ruled not by reason, but emotion. The thinking behind such a law is that if women are compelled to jump through the appropriate state-constructed hoops, they’ll break down and, in a sudden epiphany, change their mind about having an abortion. For this reason, and this reason alone, “pro-life” legislators are willing to enact laws requiring expensive and utterly unnecessary medical procedures.

Watching this week’s Virginia legislative battle, I realized it wasn’t merely about the ongoing, eternal war over who gets to control women’s vaginas, or even a battle over abortion. Instead, it was a way to observe a larger principle: American lawmakers—and I don’t mean merely Republicans when I say this—will eagerly support legislation even when they don’t have a mouse’s clue about how the law they’re supporting will play out in real life.

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