Did you hear about the ultrasound law that was proposed in Virginia? It requires all women who seek an abortion to first undergo a mandatory ultrasound. The problem here is that the large majority of these abortions occur within the first ten weeks, which requires a vaginally penetrating ultrasound. This means that over 68 percent of abortions would require a transvaginal ultrasound, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

This law would force women to undergo nonconsensual penetration for no direct medical reason, even if the pregnancy resulted from rape. A doctor who disregards the ultrasound beforehand would face a 15,000 dollar fine and up to ten years in prison. These forced transvaginal ultrasounds have been described as essentially a rape by the state with an eight to ten inch long probe.

Rape, according to the federal definition, is “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” Because this definition aligned so well with the proposed bill and resulted in a slew of media outrage, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell changed his stance to requiring some sort of ultrasound, be it vaginal or abdominal.

What’s interesting is that around the same time, a bill was proposed that required a similarly invasive rectal examination for men seeking erectile dysfunction prescriptions, which failed very quickly. And although Governor McDonnell supported the nonconsensual ten-inch-long probe ultrasounds, he has spoken out against the intrusiveness of TSA body pat-downs as a strike against our civil liberties.

In return, John Stewart, as quoted in the Washington Post, comically declared that “women might consider this bill a PSA pat-down inside their vagina.”

One can hardly consider a PSA pat-down to be as intrusive as a forced vaginal probe. A PSA pat-down is nothing; Gusties get patted down more at the Dive every week than they would in an airport. Maybe if the intrusive ultrasound bill had somehow affected men, it wouldn’t have progressed as far as it did, just like the failed erectile dysfunction bill.

The sad thing is that the Virginia transvaginal ultrasound proposal is not alone. There are already seven other states with similar laws. As soon as next week, Alabama will begin debating their version of the ultrasound bill. Will Minnesota be next?

This is just another hit in a long line of strikes against reproductive rights. In fact, there has been an overall rise in bills of this nature in recent years. In 2011 alone there were more than 1,100 reproductive health and rights-related bills introduced, a sharp jump from 2010’s 950. Only a few years ago, in 2005, there were less than 40.

In a world where we are confronted with such pop-cultural promiscuity in the form of teen pregnancy, why is there so much backlash against reproductive rights? Teen pregnancies are thrown in our faces with programs like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Glee, and MTV’s ever-enticing 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. And who could forget Juno? Minors who wind up pregnant are glamorized and broadcast across the country. The celebrity spotlight has showcased recent teen pregnancies, like Jamie Lynn Spears at 16 and Bristol Palin at 17.

This national preoccupation with premature moms reinforces the need for a strong standing of family planning. Teen pregnancy rates may be the lowest in two decades, but that doesn’t mean we should falter in reproductive rights. Although it’s a controversial issue, it’s still as relevant as ever. The bottom line is that the mandatory transvaginal ultrasound laws are just another cut at women’s rights and another unneeded restriction applied to a perfectly legal medical act: abortion.