Membership

The Mission Statement of West Virginians for Life states that: “Our goal is the preservation of human life from conception to natural death.” In our legislation, we work to save as many lives as possible. 

The 1973 Supreme Court decisions, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, established abortion as a constitutional right, thus preventing the legislatures from passing laws to protect human life in the womb throughout pregnancy. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, reversed Roe and Doe, ruling that the “Constitution does not confer a right to an abortion.” 

After nearly 50 years, there was no longer a constitutional right to kill innocent human beings in the womb; and the legislatures could, once again, pass legislation that protects human life from conception. On September 13, 2022, the West Virginia legislature passed HB 302, the Unborn Child Protection Act, which protects life in the womb with exceptions only for medical emergencies, fetal incompatibility with life, and in the cases of rape and incest when the crime has been reported to state authorities. 

SUCCESSES 

The following protective laws have passed in West Virginia as a direct result of the lobbying efforts of WVFL and have saved hundreds of lives: 

* Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act – 1997 

* Women’s Right to Know Act – 2003 

* Unborn Victims of Violence Act – 2005 

* Ultrasound Option Requirement Act – 2010 

* Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – 2015 

* Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act – 2016 

* Parent’s Right to Know Act – 2017 

* Telemedicine Exemption for Abortion – 2017 

* West Virginia Constitutional Amendment (No right to abortion or the funding thereof.) – 2018 

* Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act – 2020 

* Second Chances at Life Act (Abortion Pill Reversal) – 2021 

* Unborn Child with Down Syndrome Protection and  Education Act – 2022 

* Health Care Decisions Act – 2022 

* Support for Mothers and Babies Act – 2023