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W.Va. AG joins anti-abortion lawsuit

Staff Report

PARKERSBURG — West Virginia through the attorney general is among 19 states asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a case from Indiana that challenges state laws prohibiting discriminatory abortions based upon the biological sex, race or disability of an unborn child.

Led by Wisconsin, the states in a friend of the court brief said asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review and ultimately overturn a decision from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that permanently blocked enforcement of such a law in Indiana, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said.

The ruling banning such laws exhibits unprecedented and unlawful hostility to each state’s authority to honor human life and dignity, the brief said. The states and the governor of Mississippi believe states have a right to prohibit the discriminatory elimination of unborn persons and ensure that fetal remains are disposed of in a respectful manner.

“The Constitution gives every state the inherent authority to protect life,” Morrisey said. “That authority extends to enacting laws that prohibit abortion from being used as a tool to eliminate any particular segment of the population. Every American, regardless of their biological sex, race or disability, has a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The ruling by the 7th Circuit could threaten the ability of West Virginia and other states to pass or enforce similar legislation, Morrisey said.

States in the coalition are West Virginia, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.

A comment requested by email from Margaret Chapman Pomponio, executive director of WV Free, was not immediately available. WV Free opposed Amendment 1, the constitutional amendment to the state Constitution, that was approved in the general election on Nov. 6.

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