The first strip features a woman seeking an abortion. She is first required to undergo an ultrasound procedure to detect a fetal heartbeat. (Legislation to force this procedure on women against their will was sponsored in the 2011 Arkansas legislature by Sen. Jason Rapert, but failed in a House committee.)

In today's installment of the Doonesbury cartoon, with the final segment shown here, the woman is first directed to a "shaming room."

PS — Trudeau comments here on Republicans' "appalling" and "insane" strikes against women's medical rights. He told the Guardian:

"Ninety-nine percent of American women have or will use contraception during their lifetimes. To see these healthcare rights systematically undermined in state after state by the party of 'limited government' is appalling. "In Texas, the sonograms are the least of it. The legislature has also defunded women's health clinics all over the state, leaving 300,000 women without the contraceptive services that prevent abortions in the first place. Insanity."

• YES, VIRGINIA: Jason Rapert was with you on ultrasound.

The Republican Party — save for the tiny segment that still supports legal access to abortion (and there ARE such Republican women) — thinks, conversely, that this is a winner for THEM. In the echo chamber of Republican thought, it is inconceivable that women might have good and well-considered reason for abortion, particularly in the very earliest stages, or that birth control might be of medical value for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Polls, even in Arkansas, still show a majority favors continuation of legal abortion, if with restrictions. Many who declare themselves "pro-life" nonetheless want to retain the legal option to terminate pregnancy.

• LINDA TYLER: Chaired committee where Rapert bill died.

Rapert sponsored mandatory ultrasound legislation that could be interpreted to be every bit as punitive as the Virginia legislation that set off a recent firestorm and ultimately was amended before passage. The Virginia bill would have required — against a woman's will — insertion of a wand into a woman's vagina, the only means of detecting a fetal heartbeat in the very early stages of pregnancy. Here's the original Virginia bill. And here's Rapert's bill. And here's the key passage in Rapert's:

20-16-1304. Testing for heartbeat.
(a) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman before the person tests the pregnant woman to determine whether the fetus the pregnant woman is carrying possesses a detectible heartbeat.

(b) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall perform a detection of a heartbeat of an unborn human individual according to standard medical practice, including the use of medical devices as determined by standard medical practice.

(c)(1) The State Board of Health may adopt rules based on standard medical practice for testing for the fetal heartbeat of an unborn human individual.

I've asked Rapert if he believed his bill required the invasive procedure. I'll let you know what he says.

UPDATE: One-word answer from Sen. Rapert: "No." I've asked for more elaboration, given the similarity in language and the medical testimony in Virginia relative to what's necessary to detect a fetal hearbeat in the earliest stages of pregnancy.

It's enough to know that the Rapert legislation was equally offensive in many other ways — beginning with mandating a medical test on women that is not medically indicated. (It is the one mandate anti-health care reform legislators such as Rapert admire.) It also treated women like children by requiring them to be informed in writing of the findings of the test, including the presence of a heartbeat and the statistical probability of carrying a fetus to term. (In Virginia, women can choose not to receive the results.) It is exactly the shaming procedure that Doonesbury will caricature in a series of strips to be published this week.

There was an exception for "emergencies," but not for women seeking an abortion in cases of rape and incest.

Rapert's bill was even more punitive than the Virginia legislation in one respect — it required the ultrasound at least 24 hours before the abortion, where the original Virginia bill set the time at 2 hours. The 24-hour requirement turns a trip for an abortion — which likely means a pill in the very earliest stages of pregnancy — into a two-day mission at great distance to the few places in Arkansas still providing abortion services.

Republicans have been spoiling to beat up Linda Tyler on this issue. (Imagine, a woman more sensitive than a man to a women's health issues. Doesn't she know what the Bible says about who's in charge?) But recent events may have altered the political dynamics somewhat. When I erred and wrote last week that a Rapert effort to criticize the Health Department spending with Planned Parenthood was on family planning, one of his operatives was lightning quick to correct that Rapert's interest was about a sexually transmitted diseases program, not family planning. (Though the core issue on the STD program was condom distribution.)

It is still Arkansas. And Conway is home to big conservative fundamentalist churches that have over the years, among others, pushed for abstinence-only sex education in the public schools. Linda Tyler, in fact, might just as soon I not advertise that Jason Rapert is a champion for depriving women of their reproductive rights; for mandating unnecessary and expensive medical procedures, and for treating them like children when they visit doctors. But there it is.

Some newspapers have already decided to not to run the strips. I've sent a note to the Democrat-Gazette's deputy editor, Frank Fellone, about that newspaper's plans, but haven't heard back. The D-G runs Trudeau's controversial strips most of the time, memory seems to recall. The strips will be available on-line regardless.

Romenesko summarizes the strips:

Monday: Young woman arrives for her pre-termination sonogram, is told to take a seat in the shaming room, a middle-aged male state legislator will be right with her.

Tuesday: He asks her if this is her first visit to the center, she replies no, that she’s been using the contraceptive services for some time. He says, “I see. Do your parents know you’re a slut?”

Wednesday: A different male is reading to her about the transvaginal exam process.

Thursday: In the stirrups, she is telling a nurse that she doesn’t want a transvaginal exam. Doctor says “Sorry miss, you’re first trimester. The male Republicans who run Texas require that all abortion seekers be examined with a 10″ shaming wand.” She asks “Will it hurt?” Nurse says, “Well, it’s not comfortable, honey. But Texas feels you should have thought of that.” Doctor says, “By the authority invested in me by the GOP base, I thee rape.”

Friday: Doctor is explaining that the Texas GOP requires her to have an intimate encounter with her fetus. He begins describing it to her. Last panel, he says, “Shall I describe it’s hopes and dreams?” She replies, “If it wants to be the next Rick Perry, I’ve made up my mind.”

Saturday: Back in the reception area, she asks where she goes now for the actual abortion. Receptionist tells her there’s a 24-hour waiting period: “The Republican Party is hoping you get caught in a shame spiral and change your mind.” Last panel: She says, “A final indignity.” Receptionist replies, “Not quite. Here’s your bill.”

The decision by Susan Komen for the Cure to end financial support of breast screening by Planned Parenthood was a public relations disaster for the organization. Many women didn't like it. The decision has supposedly been set aside and the officer responsible for it, an anti-abortion Georgia politician, has left Komen.

It is now left to local affiliates to try to clean up and make amends with once-fervent supporters. Susan G. Komen for the Cure Arkansas is among those at work on rehabilitation, with the letter below to its past supporters expressing regret for "an error in judgment at our national office." The Arkansas group has never made grants to Planned Parenthood, however.

The letter from Sherrye McBryde, the Arkansas affiliate's executive director, follows:

Jon Stewart nails it again in video above on the Virginia bill to require women seeking an abortion during the early part of pregnancy to have a trans-vaginal ultrasound. That is, the law mandates that women have an object inserted in their vagina whether they want it or not.

The bill was pushed, as you'll see in the video, by politicians who decry government mandates and intrusion — health insurance, birth control pills, TSA patdowns. Foreign objects pushed into the genitals of unwilling women? That's OK.

UPDATE: The pressure got to Gov. Bob McDonnell, who had favored the bill. He won't sign it. He wants it to be amended to require only an ultrasound that passes over the exterior of a pregnant woman's stomach.

How did Jason Rapert miss this idea in the last session?

FURTHER ON THE SUBJECT OF FORCING ANOTHER'S BELIEFS ON WOMEN:

In a new Daily Kos/SEIU State of the Nation poll, 67% oppose letting their employer's beliefs restrict their insurance coverage, thus limiting their access to widely-available and popular medical treatments like contraception.

The poll asked respondents: "Do you think employers should be allowed to deny health care coverage to their employees for doctor-recommended health care services if those services are contrary to the employer’s religious beliefs or moral convictions, or do you think all workers should be allowed access to all doctor-recommended health care services, regardless of their employer’s beliefs?"

• Think Progress
• GONE FROM KOMEN: Karen Handel

It remains to be seen if Handel's excision means all malignant influences have been removed from Komen.

News account here.

UPDATE: Naturally, Mitt Romney and his wife supported Planned Parenthood in the past.

• Wikipedia
• NANCY BRINKER: Apologizes for decision.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure is said to have reversed its decision to stop providing grants for breast examinations to Planned Parenthood. NY Times coverage here.

The statement isn't quite that direct and leaves some wiggle room, seems to me. The days ahead will tell, but Komen is clearly trying to put out the fire. A statement from Nancy Brinker, the founder and board chair said, in part:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

The fallout has been enormous for Komen. The anti-choice political movement was clearly wrapped up in the decision, despite Brinker's protests, particularly as news came of impact that movement on other Komen foundation spending, such as a halt to support of stem cell research. Board member John Raffaelli, a Washington lobbyist and Texarkana native, had told the press flatly that the end of Planned Parenthood money was tied to anti-choice sentiment and feared impact on Komen from anti-choice motivated investigations in Congress against Planned Parenthood.

A number of affiliates, including the one in Arkansas, had distanced themselves from the decision and top officials had resigned.

The cat, however, is out of the bag, regardless of the reversal. There now will be fresh and deserved examination of political factors in all spending decisions by Komen; of corporate influence and marketing; of the percent of money raised that actually goes to breast cancer examinations, treatment and cures.

The anti-choice contingent in the U.S. is strong and organized. But it lives in a soundproof room. It hears only itself. The takeover of Komen by anti-choice adherents and their action here demonstrated how they underestimate the degree to which American women favor ready access to birth control, comprehensive health care and family planning and even — though under a variety of circumstances and often with restrictive regulations — abortion rights.

You might like to peruse the national Komen Foundation's federal tax return for 2010 for the Dallas headquarters organization, which shows about $74 million spent in grants and assistance to programs and organizations carrying out the mission — or roughly 41 percent of the year's $177 million in expenses, including $18 million in salaries, $18 million in marketing expenses, $11 million in office expenses, $8 million in technology expenses, $2 million travel expenses, $2 million for conferences, $18 million for consulting expenses, $2 million on race production and $7 million in "other" expenses. (Better Business Bureau says a charity should spend about 65 percent or more of its income on services.) UPDATE: However, a separate foundation that reports the fund-raising of local affiliates, which produce significant sums from the Race for the Cure with lower overhead, affects the overall performance of the organization in a favorable way and puts total effort beyond BBB suggested guidelines.)

Comments follow from the Arkansas affiliate of Komen and from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which serves Arkansas:

• Brian Chilson
• RACE FOR THE CURE: A hugely popular Little Rock event might experience fallout from sponsor's decison to end of support for Planned Parenthood.

The anti-abortionists have won a victory over women. Their pressure and relentless attacks from Republicans in Congress have prompted the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity to quietly end grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening and similar services.

Some women, believe it or not, support family planning, affordable health screening for women and the other comprehensive services, yes, even morning-after pills for rape victims and abortion, offered by Planned Parenthood. The article about the decision quotes several of them.

No wonder Komen isn't trumpeting the news, which could take a little of the bloom off the organization's popularity. It should. Here's a statement from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which serves Arkansas and which provided 23,000 breast cancer screenings last year.

“As a leading reproductive health care provider in our community, more than 23,000 women relied on Planned Parenthood of the Heartland for breast exams last year,” said Planned Parenthood of the Heartland President and CEO Jill June. “These women are deeply alarmed that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure from a vocal minority.”

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland was in the process of applying for grants for breast health care when notified of the Komen Foundation’s decision. Planned Parenthood is deeply concerned about the troubling precedent of putting politics before women’s health.

“In these tough economic times, more women than ever need access to essential health care services like lifesaving breast cancer screenings. Politics should never get in the way of a woman’s ability to access health care,” said June.

Catholic institutions will resist the Obama administration decision that birth control is preventive medicine and thus must be covered by group health insurance plans. The institutions will fight this as an incursion on religion.

This is a tough issue. It is also a poor proxy for a fundamental difference in the political parties. Republican candidates, including Mitt Romney, the likely nominee, say they want to roll back federal support for family planning. Medical opinion is firm: family planning prevents unwanted pregnancy and thus discourages abortion and the poor pre-natal care that often accompanies unwanted pregnancies. Women, who are the ones who get pregnant, understand this. 98 percent of women have used contraception and the percentage is the same for Catholic women, despite the church's firm position against it.

Do women really agree with the archbishop quoted in this New York Times summary of the debate who describes use of condoms and birth control pills as the "culture of death"? Is there political gain in supporting a position that forces this medical outcome?

One recent Georgetown law graduate, who asked not to be identified for reasons of medical privacy, said she had polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition for which her doctor prescribed birth control pills. She is gay and had no other reason to take the pills. Georgetown does not cover birth control for students, so she made sure her doctor noted the diagnosis on her prescription. Even so, coverage was denied several times. She finally gave up and paid out of pocket, more than $100 a month. After a few months she could no longer afford the pills. Within months she developed a large ovarian cyst that had to be removed surgically — along with her ovary.

“If I want children, I’ll need a fertility specialist because I have only one working ovary,” she said.

ICYMI: The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock is fully committed to the fight against contraception. News release last week:

Welsco Industrial Gas and Welding Supply, which has supplied oxygen and nitrous gas to the Little Rock Family Planning Clinic for a decade, told the clinic in early January it would no longer sell to them and demanded its tanks back after an abortion protester filmed a company truck delivering gas to the clinic and posted for a time on YouTube.

Lori Williams, clinical director, declined, since the clinic has paid for the gas. The clinic's contract with Welsco says it will return the tanks when they are empty, and Williams told the company she'd return them then.

In response, Welsco manager Aaron Campbell called the police, and officers visited the clinic, at 4 Office Park Drive, Jan. 6. Williams explained to police that she had a contract with Welsco and would be happy to return the tanks when they are empty but not sooner. The police said fine, made out an information report, and left. They later returned to tell her that Welsco was offering a refund. Williams declined the refund.

Now, Little Rock Family Planning is seeking a new oxygen and nitrous supplier. One company made one delivery but then backed out, saying they wanted to avoid controversy.

The gases are used as pain killers in medical procedures including, but not limited to, abortion: They are also used for insertion of IUDs and vasectomies, a new service the clinic offers.

Little Rock Family Planning's clients come from all over Arkansas. There are no other surgical abortion providers in Arkansas. Memphis and Tulsa are the closest cities that do offer the procedure.

RELATED: The Pro-Choice America Foundation reported that state anti-choice legislation doubled in 2011 over 2010 and 2012 is expected to be worse. Its annual rundown on the status of women's (dwindling) reproductive rights is here.

Mitt Romney was for a woman's right to choose abortion before he was against it. But, even as governor of Massachusetts, he took a particularly harsh stance on something that isn't abortion — a morning-after contraceptive pill for rape victims.

The Massachusetts legislature wanted to guarantee availability of this pill to rape victims. Romney vetoed the bill to make it available over the counter and at all hospital emergency rooms. The legislature overrode the veto. Cold stuff. You'd think Romney would be bragging about this to help himself in the Republican primary, where the true believers have begun to make it clear that it's not just abortion they oppose, but contraception. If you screw, you pay. The general election voter doesn't yet appear to be anti-birth control pill.

Of course, fairness requires a mention of the Obama administration's disappointment on this very issue, mentioned in the linked article. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has overruled scientists who said the drug was safe to be available over the counter. (Added info: Sebelius stopped non-prescription use under 17.)

I guess you have to credit Rick Santorum for fully exhibiting an agenda sometimes cloaked strictly in anti-abortion clothing.

He believes states should be allowed to outlaw contraception — pills, rubbers, whatever. And he disagrees with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that makes this impossible.

You can see where he and Jim Bob get along.

“One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country,” the former Pennsylvania senator explained. “It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Barefoot and pregnant, in the words of another former legislator.

Sad news. The Obama administration, specifically Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is overruling the scientists and blocking rules to allow over-the-counter dispensation of Plan B, or the morning-after pill to prevent pregnancy, to women younger than 17.

It's a political, not medical, decision, says the report in the Hill. Hard to disagree. The Bush administration similarly overruled the FDA.

Abortion rights groups traditionally allied with Democrats blasted the decision, calling it "a failure to deliver change."

"We had every confidence that this Bush-era policy would come to an end," NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan said in a statement. "The Obama administration has broken a key promise to the American people that it would base its decisions on sound science and what's in the best interest of women’s health."

I should have mentioned that this rule makes it harder even for adults to get the pills because they can't be displayed on open shelves, but must be requested from a pharmacist. As the New York Times notes, women sometimes want emergency contraception when pharmacies aren't open.