On Jan. 10, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Texas law requiring abortionists to show women sonograms of their preborn babies at least 24 hours before performing abortions is constitutionally sound, and may be implemented.

The law has been blocked since August, with abortion advocacy groups claiming it was “vague” and “compelled speech” from abortionists, violating their First Amendment rights.

The law also requires abortionists to make the baby’s heartbeat audible to the woman and explain what happens to the baby during the abortion. Women are required to sign a form noting they’ve been given all the information.

“Now the woman can hear the sounds of her own baby’s heartbeat and see the picture of her own child–not a picture from a textbook or something else,” said Allan Parker, president of The Justice Foundation, one of several law firms representing 317 post-abortive women who wish they’d had a sonogram law to inform their decisions. “This scientific evidence will refute the lies of abortionists…that the contents of the uterus are ‘just a mass of tissue,’ ‘just a blob,’ or ‘not yet a baby.’” (WNS)