Patrick Murphy on Corbett Remarks

a press release from the campaign of Patrick Murphy, Democratic candidate for Attorney General:

Yesterday, Gov. Tom Corbett was asked about House Bill 1077, the so-called “Women’s Right-to-Know Act,” which would force women to undergo a mandatory and invasive ultrasound at least 24 hours before receiving abortion care. He said the following:

“I don’t know how you can make anybody watch, because you just have to close your eyes,” said Corbett. “But as long as it’s on the exterior, not interior.”

Today, Iraq war veteran and former prosecutor Patrick Murphy issued the following statement in response to Governor Tom Corbett’s comments:

“It’s bad enough that Governor Corbett wants to force women to get an unnecessary and invasive procedure as a means of getting a government permission slip to undergo legal medical care. It’s worse yet that he wants to shame them by shoving an ultrasound screen in their face. But it’s unthinkable that he would so casually dismiss this by advising women to just close their eyes. Governor Corbett’s comments are disturbingly offensive, insensitive, and out of touch. He should apologize immediately.” Murphy said. “As I have said before, this legislation is an outrageous assault on women’s rights in Pennsylvania and an unprecedented intrusion into decisions that should be made exclusively between a woman and her doctor. The proposal is demeaning, mean spirited and wrong. There is no legal justification for forcing a woman to undergo an invasive ultrasound, and after careful analysis, I believe that no reasonable arguments can be made to support the Constitutionality of this bill. As Attorney General, I could not defend it against a Constitutional challenge.”