In accordance with the Woman’s Right to Know law passed in 2001 by the Virginia General Assembly and signed by Governor Gilmore, the Virginia Department of Health issued in October a series of three booklets which must be offered to women considering an abortion at least 24 hours before an abortion can be performed. The law also requires that a woman at the same time be told the probable gestational age of the baby at the time of the projected abortion; given a full medical explanation of the nature, benefits, and risks of and alternatives to the proposed procedures; instructed that she may withdraw her consent at any time prior to the procedure; and offered an opportunity to speak to the physician who is to perform the abortion to answer her questions.

The three new booklets are:

• Abortion, Making an Informed Decision: The small booklet describes, in rather clinical terms, the various methods of performing an abortion and includes the possible complications of each for the woman. The methods described are vacuum aspiration, dilation and curettage (D&C), medical induction (e.g., RU-486), dilation and evacuation (D&E), labor induction, and dilation and extraction (D&X, or partial birth abortion). A definition of terms is included. Throughout this publication and the next, the medically correct terminology of embryo or fetus, depending on the stage of development, is used when referring to the unborn child. Inside the front cover are printed sections from Virginia law pertaining to abortion.
• Fetal Development, Understanding the Stages: This somewhat larger booklet provides a description of the development of the unborn child in approximately two-week intervals from fertilization to birth. This includes the beginning of heartbeats, formation of various organs and limbs, brain function, facial features, movement and bodily functions. For each interval, there are estimates of the baby’s length and weight, and from 24 weeks on, the survival rate for babies born at this age. There is a color illustration or photograph depicting each stage. The photos are those taken by Lennart Nilsson from his book, A Child is Born.
• A Virginia Guide to Services for the Pregnant Woman: Largest of the three publications, this full size directory gives the name and telephone number for a variety of agencies and organizations that could be of assistance to a pregnant woman looking for alternatives to abortion. They are divided into four categories: adoption services; financial assistance, Medicaid, paternity establishment and child support enforcement; child development, child rearing, stress management and crisis pregnancy centers; and maternal and infant/child health care and nutrition services. The book is organized geographically by health districts.

The Department of Health sent sets of these booklets to all health departments, abortion providers and pregnancy help centers in Virginia. They are available free of charge from local health departments and the Virginia Department of Health, and can be requested by calling 804-786-5916.

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, January 2002