Add West Virginia to the list of states where babies are protected from abortion after the Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade. The state is now abortion-free after the latest abortion business there stopped killing babies in abortions, pending the state swiftly passing a law banning abortions.
West Virginia does not have a trigger law that has gone into effect like several other states, but a pro-life law banning abortions is expected to be passed soon.
According to an AP report, “Katie Quinonez, executive director of the lone abortion clinic in West Virginia, whose staff spent all day calling dozens of patients to cancel their appointments.”
“It was the risk of prosecution under a 19th-century abortion ban punishable by the prison that led the West Virginia Women’s Health Center to stop performing the procedure. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, said he would not hesitate to convene the legislature in a special session if the ban needs to be clarified,” it continued.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he would work with lawmakers to clear up an old state law banning abortions that should go into effect soon.
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“I think there’s going to be some focus on how this law will come back to normal or the changes being made. So we’re going to tackle those issues,” he said.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was destroyed and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions, and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state to protect babies from abortion, Kentucky became 4th, Louisiana became 5th, Ohio became 6th, Utah became 7th, and Oklahoma became 8th.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, holding a 5-4 majority decision in the Dobbs case that “the Constitution does not grant the right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 to uphold the 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi, allowing states to restrict abortions further.
“We believe that Roe and Casey should be overruled. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Judge Samuel Alito wrote before the majority.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and such a right is not implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one that Roe and Casey’s defenders now primarily rely on — the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Judge Samuel Alito wrote. in the opinion of the majority. “That provision is held to guarantee some rights not mentioned in the Constitution, but such a right must be ‘deeply rooted in the history and tradition of this nation’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty’.”
Immediately after the decision, Texas abortion companies announced they would be closing, and South Carolina said it had asked a federal appeals court to uphold the abortion ban.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or expeditiously ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 states with trigger laws that effectively ban all or most abortions are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Some states, such as Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming, have short periods before the law goes into effect.
“Abortion poses a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was wrong from the start. The reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have fueled debate and deepened divisions.”
This is a milestone for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After nearly 50 years of staining the moral fabric of our country, Roe v. Wade is no more.
Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer wrote a joint dissent condemning the decision to allow states to impose “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show that most Americans are pro-life and against Roe v. Wade, allowing ion on-demand in some states up to birth.