No vote set on bill for ultrasound

HARRISBURG - The Republican leader in the Pennsylvania House says he doesn't plan to schedule a vote on a bill to mandate ultrasounds for women seeking abortions while members address questions that have arisen about it.

A spokesman for Majority Leader Mike Turzai told the Associated Press on Wednesday that concerns about the bill in the medical community would also be fully vetted before the bill would be advanced.

Sponsors of the Pennsylvania bill say it would require an ultrasound, but a woman wouldn't have to look at the printout. It would also require that all questions about the fetus' health and gestational age be answered completely.

Opponents say the bill would subject many women to ultrasounds with a vaginal probe.

In Virginia last week, a similar law was derailed at the eleventh hour after opponents portrayed it as "state-sponsored rape." The Daily Show's Jon Stewart joked that it would turn women into "human Popsicles."

On Tuesday, the Virginia legislature narrowly adopted a revised version that requires only the familiar "jelly-on-the-belly" external ultrasound.