In his unapologetic push to restrict abortions, Rep. Carl Wimmer wants more women to see ultrasound images of their fetuses before they decide to end their pregnancy because he believes fewer would choose to abort.

The Herriman Republican is sponsoring a bill for the 2010 legislative session to amend the state's informed consent laws.

Current law says women planning abortions must be told they have the right to view an ultrasound.

Wimmer's changes go further and say that if an ultrasound is performed, the images must be displayed so that the woman can see them, if she wants. And, if she desires, the person performing the ultrasound must provide a "detailed description" of what is on the screen, including the dimensions of the fetus, description of its heart and presence of other organs and external body parts.

"It's as if a pregnant couple is at the ultrasound, checking on their baby," Wimmer said Tuesday.

He maintains the three clinics that provide abortions in Utah don't want to show the images. "They're in the abortion market to make money. The more ultrasounds they show, the fewer abortions they're going to be able to do."

Doctors at the three clinics were unavailable Monday for comment.

Ultrasounds are routinely performed as part of the abortion procedure, said Melissa Bird, executive director of the pro-abortion rights Planned Parenthood Action Council in Utah.

"Women can already see the screen when they get an ultrasound if they choose to. It's just like any other ultrasound," she said.

Her group hasn't taken a position on the bill, but says Utah's existing law already works.

Wimmer said he worked on the bill with the national anti-abortion organization Americans United for Life. The nonprofit, which aims to help states pass legislation, recommends such ultrasound laws, believing women will feel bonded to their fetuses.

"Once that bond is established, researchers argue, a woman no longer feels ambivalence towards her pregnancy and actually begins to feel invested in her unborn child," according to a guide on informed consent posted on its Web site.

Wimmer has successfully enacted another of the group's goals: Requiring doctors to inform abortion patients about the ability of a fetus to feel pain and to offer fetal anesthesia. That bill passed earlier this year.

Wimmer's proposal doesn't require women to have ultrasounds, although that could be next. He said he is watching how similar laws in other states are litigated.

For example, the Oklahoma attorney general is appealing to that state's supreme court a ruling that struck down a controversial ultrasound law, according to the Tulsa World . It would have required women to have an ultrasound within one hour of the abortion and doctors to describe the image in detail.

The Guttmacher Institute says several states have included ultrasound provisions in their laws during the past decade. The abortion rights group describes requirements that women have an ultrasound as a "veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion."

Its records show eight states, including Utah, require women to be counseled about ultrasound services. Fourteen states have a mix of laws either requiring ultrasounds or that women be given the opportunity to view an ultrasound if it is going to be performed as part of the routine preparation for an abortion.

hmay@sltrib.com