Row Your Boat

New for Philly Weekly:

A recent analysis by a good-government nonprofit of the mandatory-ultrasound bills popping up around the country confirms that state Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren/Forest/McKean), the legislator who introduced Pennsylvania’s mandatory-ultrasound bill, is carrying water for anti-abortion lobbyists.

From the Sunlight Foundation:

“Kristi Hamrick, a spokesman for the anti-abortion Americans United for Life, confirmed that the group authored a model bill, titled “The Woman’s Ultrasound Right to Know Act” that appears to have been the inspiration for a number of the bills currently under consideration. A Sunlight Foundation analysis that uses technology called SuperFastMatch shows the AUL bill has instances of text matching with all 13 bills to which we compared it.”

The 13 bills included Pennsylvania’s, which has been temporarily shelved. Legislators say the bill is on hold pending further medical analysis, but critics believe it’s on hold until after the Republican primary in April.

You can read the full piece here.