The Women's Right to Know is Now Law!

By letting the Women's Right to Know bill become law without his signature, Governor Wise has allowed women and girls to have full access to medical information before having an abortion.

"West Virginians for Life is relieved that the women and girls of West Virginia will be guaranteed the right to know all the facts before having an abortion, a permanent life changing decision," said Karen Cross, West Virginians for Life Executive Director. "We would like to commend the pro-life legislators and advocates who have worked tirelessly for 15 years to pass this important legislation."

The Women's Right to Know law will require that abortionists provide women and girls who want it with medically accurate, objective, and nonjudgmental information on the risks of abortion, alternatives to abortion, and her developing unborn child 24 hours before her abortion. Sixteen states, including neighboring states of Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have similar legislation in effect. Such laws have reduced abortion rates in some states as much a 16% and have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court.

"Even though Governor Wise vetoed similar legislation last year, West Virginians for Life is not surprised by the Governor's choice," commented Melissa Adkins, West Virginians for Life Legislative Coordinator. "We made several changes to this year's bill to address the concerns expressed in last year's veto message."

Changes made to the Women's Right to Know law were:

• The Women's Right to Know bill holds the appropriate medical staff accountable.
• The reporting requirements have been simplified and add only five additional reporting requirements to existing requirements established in 1984 in West Virginia's Parental Involvement Act. The "burden" on abortionists has been reduced.
• Identifying information on abortionists or mothers cannot be obtained from the DHHR by Freedom of Information Act requests, nor are women and girls given the name of the abortionists before the abortion.
• The standard by which health care professionals can be found in violation of this law has been raised to higher standard than other medical procedures, limiting this bill's effect on the med/mal crisis.

West Virginians for Life, the state affiliate to the National Right to Life Committee, is the only statewide organization solely dedicated to the protection of human life. WVFL works in educational, legislative, and political activities to ensure the right to life for unborn children, people with disabilities, and older people.