Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement after the Virginia Senate passed legislation forcing women to undergo an ultrasound if they seek an abortion.  The new bill was amended to make the ultrasound external, rather than the original invasive internal procedure.

“The fact that this bill is better than the first version just proves how horrendous it was originally.  Just because this is less offensive does not mean that it is inoffensive.  The Virginia Senate is missing the point entirely – and by extension, the Republican Party is missing the point – the American people do not want the focus of our federal or state government to be on matters of personal family decisions.  The focus should be on issues such as jobs, protecting our citizens from external and internal threats, removing our reliance on foreign oil, lowering gas prices, reforming our immigration and education systems, etc.  These are the problems facing Americans today – not what a woman in Richmond, New York City, or anywhere around the country is doing with her body. 

“For a party that cries out about government’s overreaches, it sure has no trouble having government intrude into personal matters such as family planning and who is allowed to marry.  Regardless of what State this debate is taking place in, women’s bodies should not be debated in state capitals as if they were just another commodity.  I expect this debate would be different if women sat in the vast majority of Senate seats in Richmond, and the other 49 states, and whether or not contraception and women’s health would be as much of a topic of debate as it is today.”

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