The abortion debate has raged in the United States and around the world for many decades.Advocates of these laws intend to give women imagery and information about the unborn fetus that could change their minds. They argue that abortions are an unfortunate outcome and that lowering the number of abortions through these kinds of methods is, therefore, a good thing. Further, while women may have the right to their bodies and the choice of abortion, opponents argue that opting for an abortion is still immoral, and thus justifies the state intervening to try to persuade women against it. Opponents claim that this violates a women's right to make decisions regarding their own bodies unmolested by the state. They see women as fully capable of understanding the implications of abortions and that these laws insult their intelligence by imagining the government has something to teach them. On this point, they also argue that showing women these ultrasounds rarely has any impact on their decision, as advocates might hope. Opponents also question the implications for the patient-doctor relationship, in which a doctor is forced to perform an operation that is not medically necessary.
