Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann filed a bill Thursday requiring that pregnant women considering abortion be provided audio and ultrasound images as part of the informed consent process.
The Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, a longtime opponent of abortion rights, dubbed her bill the Heartbeat Informed Consent Act. She said it would require that clinics make the "unborn child's" heartbeat visible through ultrasound, describe the cardiac activity, and, if detectable, make the heartbeat audible.
Bachmann, whose campaign has been focusing in recent weeks on evangelicals and religious conservatives, released a statement saying "a pregnant woman who enters an abortion clinic is faced with a decision that will forever change two lives."
