Circuit court blocks W. Virginia anti-abortion law

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A court in West Virginia on Monday temporarily blocked a 100-year-old anti-abortion law from taking effect in the state following the US Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v Wade last month, Axios reports. The circuit court issued an injunction on the law at the request of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, the state’s only abortion clinic.

In a statement decrying the circuit judge’s decision, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said the state’s anti-abortion law was valid, that it had only been unenforced because of the US Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade which had legalized abortion nationwide up to viability.

“The law went unenforced only because courts said that, under Roe, the criminal statute was unenforceable,” Morrisey said in the statement. “Despite this, there was never legislative action to remove the Act from the West Virginia Code. Now that West Virginia once again has the freedom to address abortion as it best sees fit and enforce its laws, the state and the public have a strong interest in seeing a duly enacted and non-repealed statute recognized as in force.”

Promising to appeal to the state’s Supreme Court against the circuit court’s decision as soon as possible, Morrisey added: “As a strong pro-life advocate, I am committed to protecting unborn babies to the fullest extent possible under the law, and I will not rest until this injunction is lifted.”

In a separate statement welcoming the circuit court ruling, Katie Quiñonez, the Women’s Health Center executive director, said: “Essential health care shouldn’t depend on the whims of a court or politicians, it should be based on compassion and what’s best for one’s life and future.”

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