West Virginia Senate committee wants to put right to abortion on the ballot

By ERIN BECK

Charleston Gazette-Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginians would vote in November on an amendment to the state constitution that says nothing in the constitution “secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion,” if a resolution approved by state lawmakers in one committee Monday continues to progress.

Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson and the lead sponsor, said the the bill would undo a 1993 state Supreme Court decision on Medicaid-funded abortions. That year, the state Supreme Court overturned a state law banning Medicaid funding of abortion, finding that the law violated poor women’s constitutional rights.

Another bill sponsor, Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Upshur, said the amendment would mean the Medicaid-funded abortion bill would stand up in court.  That bill passed the House of Delegates health committee last month and was the subject of a public hearing Monday morning.

Read the entire article: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/committee-wants-to-put-right-to-abortion-on-the-ballot/article_1de5fced-ba1f-5bca-89ac-8f02967c09f4.html

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