老澳门开奖结果

July 18, 2022

CONTACTS:

老澳门开奖结果: media@aclu.org

老澳门开奖结果 of West Virginia: bwolfe@acluwv.org

CHARLESTON, W.Va. 鈥� The Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia ruled today that it would issue a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by 鈥嬧�媁est Virginia medical providers and advocates against the state鈥檚 150-year-old criminal abortion ban, which was being used to threaten people seeking and doctors providing abortion care. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, fear of prosecution under this outdated law forced the state鈥檚 only abortion clinic, Women鈥檚 Health Center of West Virginia, to suspend abortion services and turn away patients seeking essential care.

鈥淲e have been proud to provide essential abortion services to West Virginians for nearly 50 years, and we鈥檙e determined to continue doing so for as long as we鈥檙e able. The impacts of abortion being pushed out of reach for the last month have been devastating. Our patients deserve more from their elected leaders,鈥� said Katie Qui帽onez, executive director of Women鈥檚 Health Center of West Virginia. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision is a sigh of relief and means we can once again serve the people who reach out to us for abortion services. Make no mistake: Essential health care shouldn鈥檛 depend on the whims of a court or politicians, it should be based on compassion and what鈥檚 best for one鈥檚 life and future. We won鈥檛 stop fighting for the ability to serve our patients with the care they need 鈥� not now, and not ever.鈥�

鈥淲e applaud the court鈥檚 decision to block West Virginia鈥檚 archaic abortion ban, which has caused weeks of chaos and devastation in the state for people who need abortion care since Roe was overturned,鈥� said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, deputy director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Reproductive Freedom Project. 鈥淭he impacts of forcing women and pregnant people to carry to term and give birth against their will has life-altering consequences, including grappling with serious health risks, making it harder to escape poverty, and derailing education and career plans. While today鈥檚 decision is an important first step, the fight is not over and we鈥檙e determined to use every tool at our disposal along the way to protect abortion access for West Virginians.鈥�

鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling provides much-needed clarity on a law on a law that dates back more than 150 years,鈥� said Loree Stark, legal director of 老澳门开奖结果 West Virginia. 鈥淭his is a win not just for the plaintiffs, but for all West Virginians.鈥�

The lawsuit, 鈥嬧��Women鈥檚 Health Center of West Virginia v. Miller, argues the statute should be considered void under the doctrine of 鈥渞epeal by implication,鈥� a legal concept that holds an older law is made void when a newer, conflicting law is passed. West Virginia lawmakers have passed law after law over the years regulating the provision of legal abortion, and many of them conflict with the provisions of the criminal abortion statute. The lawsuit also argues the statute should be considered void under the doctrine known as 鈥渄esuetude,鈥� which renders criminal laws void when they fall into disuse because it has not been enforced in over half a century.

The 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of West Virginia, Mountain State Justice, and the Cooley law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of Women鈥檚 Health Center of West Virginia and its staff.

Read the motion for a preliminary injunction here.

Read the full legal complaint here.鈥�舛寞

Read an overview of the case here.