On September 1, 2021, Texas enacted the most oppressive reproductive rights law banning abortions after 6 weeks. This law includes provisions to force victims of rape and incest (regardless of age) to carry a resulting pregnancy to term. Possibly the worst provision allows private citizens to sue anyone who aids in access to or performance of an abortion. The plaintiff(s) can recover $10,000 for each suit won, in effect creating a bounty hunter system.
In response to the Lone Star State, nine West Virginia legislators are publicly discussing sponsoring similar legislation here. Some of these legislators, including several Democrats, were instrumental in passing Amendment 1 which states “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion.”
In view of these threats against women’s privacy and reproductive rights, the West Virginia Mountain Party continues to stand on the side of personal privacy and a woman’s right to control her own reproductive functions without interference from private citizens and government. As with Amendment 1, we will oppose any effort to restrict these inherent rights.
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