Many pregnancy center executives wonder what the standard of care is to perform an ultrasound scan on women who are thinking about terminating their pregnancy. The basic question to ask is, “what is the purpose of an ultrasound scan in the context of abortion?” The basic purpose of an ultrasound scan is to do two things; 1) confirm fetal viability (is there a viable pregnancy?), and 2) determine gestational age (how far along is the pregnancy?). In light of that fact the medical standard of care would be to ascertain as much information as possible with whatever tools are available at the time when the patient is seen. What this means is that if a patient presents with a positive pregnancy test the medical standard of care (including at the abortion provider’s office) would be to do an ultrasound scan irrespective of the woman’s Last Menstrual Period (LMP). To read further about this download the following White Paper: How early should we do an Ultrasound scan?