ABSTRACT
Since the US Supreme Court legalised abortion in the United States with Roe v Wade in 1973,1 individual states have legislated to restrict that right through the regulation of medical practice and speech. Recently, anti-abortion groups have been advocating for laws that compel a pregnant woman to view a fetal ultrasound prior to an abortion. At their core, these mandatory ultrasound laws aim to prevent abortions because they assume that after viewing the ultrasound a woman will change her mind and decide to continue her pregnancy rather than terminate it.
