Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, a Rhode Island doctor who performs abortions, explains the difference to the Woonsocket [Rhode Island] Call:

“All this bill does is turn the ultrasound into a torture machine,” Rodriguez added. “You have to start turning the machine around and start describing every little part of the screen, which is hard to begin with and would serve no purpose other than to scare woman and make them change their minds. The result is to get the gestational age (of the fetus), that’s why we do the ultrasound. It’s not to be identifying parts of the fetus.

“For the most part, under 10 weeks, it is difficult,” he added, “you have to have a knowledge of embryology and anatomy to even comprehend what you are seeing. To pretend that we can give women a course on ultrasound images in the 10 minutes it takes to do an ultrasound, it serves no purpose. It is an intrusion in the patient-physician relationship.”