"DOONESBURY": Next week's abortion-law strips pulled by at least several papers
Next week, “Doonesbury” will tackle the ultrasound-before-abortion debate that has roiled Texas and Virginia and the nation in recent weeks, as lawmakers fought over a procedure deemed physically invasive and medically intrusive by some critics, who dubbed it “state rape.”
Last month, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who opposes abortion, insisted upon revisions in legislation so the state would require only transabdominal ultrasounds prior to abortion. Into this political tempest wades Garry Trudeau, the Pulitzer-winning creator of the oft-controversial “Doonesbury” that over four decades has helped alter the boundaries of what newspaper editors allow on their “funny pages.” Starting Monday, “Doonesbury” will skewer the politicians who have pushed for vaginal ultrasounds — a weeklong satiric approach that has prompted at least one newspaper not to run the abortion strips. At The Oregonian in Portland, Features Editor JoLene Krawczak tells Comic Riffs that her paper “has decided to pull the week’s strips and will direct readers online if they want to read them.”
Janel Flechsig: Virginia abortion ultrasound measure becomes law - Virginia legislation requiring abdominal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions was signed into law Wednesday by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. The new law forces women to be given an ultrasound before receiving an abortion and requires all Virginia abortion providers to comply by July 1st or face a $2,500 fine for each violation. Patients living within 100 miles of the clinic where the abortion is performed must wait 24 hours after the ultrasound before undergoing an abortion procedure. Patients must be offered the chance to view the ultrasound images, but cannot be forced to view them. In addition, abortion patients will be required to sign a release form stating they were given the opportunity to view the fetus, confirm its gestational age, and listen to its heartbeat. Victims of rape or incest who reported the attacks to police are exempt but pregnancies in which the baby will suffer from birth defects or in which the mother’s health is threatened are not. In cases where the fetus has died, the patient will still be required to undergo an ultrasound.
Washington Post: THE ‘DOONESBURY’ INTERVIEW: Garry Trudeau says to ignore abortion-law debate would have been ‘comedy malpractice’