A series of "Doonesbury" strips lampooning a Texas law requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before receiving an abortion will appear on The Times' Op-Ed page starting Monday rather than in the comics section, where the strip normally appears.
Times editors decided on the change after previewing the six-day series arc, which likens the ultrasound procedure to rape.
In the strips, a young woman at an abortion clinic is chastised by a male legislator who calls her a "slut," and a doctor rebukes her by reading a scripted greeting from Texas Gov. Rick Perry in advance of her "compulsory transvaginal exam." While awaiting the exam, the woman is placed in a "shaming room."
"We felt the story line was a little over the top for a comics page," said Alice Short, a Times assistant managing editor.
Sue Horton, the Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion editor of The Times, said the Op-Ed page was an appropriate place for the series.
