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A bill requiring any woman seeking an abortion to be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus is expected to go to Kentucky's house of representatives next month, a legislative spokesman said.

The bill, which cleared the state senate on Thursday, also requires that information about abortion be given to the woman at a face-to-face meeting the day before the procedure. A similar measure failed in a committee of the Democratic-controlled house last year.

No senate-passed bills will be introduced in the house until after lawmakers return to the capital in Frankfort February 1, said Brian Wilkerson, a spokesman for house speaker Greg Stumbo.

"They won't be in our chamber officially until February," Wilkerson said.

Even then, the House will consider its own bills first, so no action on the bill would be likely until close to the end of this year's legislative session in early March, Wilkerson said.

Over the past 10 years, several states have tried to make ultrasound part of providing abortion services, and 18 states regulate the provision of ultrasound by abortion providers, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank.

An Oklahoma law requiring providers to perform an ultrasound before the procedure and to display and describe the image to the woman is currently not enforced due to a court case.

The bill, which cleared the state senate on Thursday, also requires that information about abortion be given to the woman at a face-to-face meeting the day before the procedure. A similar measure failed in a committee of the Democratic-controlled house last year.

No senate-passed bills will be introduced in the house until after lawmakers return to the capital in Frankfort February 1, said Brian Wilkerson, a spokesman for house speaker Greg Stumbo.

"They won't be in our chamber officially until February," Wilkerson said.

Even then, the House will consider its own bills first, so no action on the bill would be likely until close to the end of this year's legislative session in early March, Wilkerson said.

Over the past 10 years, several states have tried to make ultrasound part of providing abortion services, and 18 states regulate the provision of ultrasound by abortion providers, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank.

An Oklahoma law requiring providers to perform an ultrasound before the procedure and to display and describe the image to the woman is currently not enforced due to a court case.

Source: Reuters

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