Senate committee backs 48‑hour ultrasound requirement and other limits for chemical abortions after close votes on amendments

House Bill 64, which would require an ultrasound prior to the dispensation of chemical‑abortion medications, was reported favorably by the Senate Committee of the Whole after several committee-of-the-whole amendments and a contested floor debate.

Senator Steinmetz presented the bill on the floor as a requirement that an ultrasound be performed no less than 48 hours before a pregnant woman procures medication for a chemical abortion or before a provider dispenses the drugs; the sponsor said the ultrasound confirms location of pregnancy, gestational age and cardiac activity — information the sponsor described as standard of care for early pregnancy management and essential to the safe use of FDA‑approved chemical‑abortion drugs (which the sponsor said are approved up…