Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
West Virginia has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a “right of privacy” to women to kill their unborn babies. The court returned the issue to the states and overturned the “law of the land” Roe v. Wade (1973).
Lawmakers in West Virginia passed the Unborn Child Protection Act in 2022. The law bans abortion with limited exceptions. When a pregnant woman falls under an exception, for example, she must wait 24 hours after counseling before killing her unborn baby, and only a doctor can kill the baby.
GenBioPro, which makes mifepristone, did not want West Virginia to regulate the drug under the state’s pro-life law, claiming an exemption. The company claimed that federal regulations prempted it.
GenBioPro filed a lawsuit against the state. A lower ruled in West Virginia’s favor: the company had no such exemption. The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with that decision. West Virginia may regulate the use of mifepristone.
Abortion drug mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone to kill the baby by starving him of nutrients. Chemical abortions are also prohibited in West Virginia.
From the opinion (PDF):
“For us to once again federalize the issue of abortion without a clear directive from Congress, right on the heels of Dobbs, would leave us one small step short of defiance.”
GenBioPro argued that the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 “vested the FDA with the exclusive authority to regulate access to mifepristone. We disagree. In our view, the Act leaves the states free to adopt or diverge from West Virginia’s path.”
Patrick Morrisey, who was the state’s attorney general named in the lawsuit, is now the governor.
“Big win out of the 4th Circuit today,” Governor Morrisey said. “I defended this law as Attorney General and am proud to see a victory in this case. West Virginia can continue to enforce our pro-life laws and lead the nation in our efforts to protect life. We will always be a pro-life state!”
Photo credit: Robin Marty (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved
