Women's Experiences with Ultrasound Viewing When Obtaining an Abortion

Introduction: Eighteen states currently regulate the provision of ultrasound in the abortion context, including requiring that some women be offered the opportunity to view the ultrasound image. Pending laws seek to remove the option and instead mandate that women view their ultrasound images. Methods: Between 2009 and 2010, we interviewed 498 women seeking abortions at 30 U.S. abortion providers across states with varying ultrasound viewing requirements. Women were asked whether they were offered the opportunity to view the image, whether they asked to view it if not offered, and how they felt about the ultrasound experience (open-ended question). Results: Of the 498 women interviewed, 243 (49%) women were offered the opportunity to view their ultrasound and of these, 56% selected to view the image. An additional 34 women (7%) requested to view ultrasound. Quantitative categorization of qualitative responses finds women report a variety of experiences with viewing, including feeling: fine/nothing (30%), sad/upset (30%), happy/excited (13%), mixed/confused (18%), weird/shocked (4%), and other (5%). Discussion: When offered the opportunity to view their ultrasound image, women obtaining abortions evenly split between choosing to view and opting out of viewing. Voluntarily viewing the image results in a range of emotional responses but does not result in women opting out of abortion even when they report feeling sad/upset after seeing the image. Laws that force ultrasound viewing will remove autonomy in medical decision-making for a significant number of women and are unlikely to result in women changing their minds about the abortion procedure.