Senate Bill No. 177
(By Senator Caruth)
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[Introduced January, 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §33-42-9, relating to
requiring that every woman seeking an abortion be given the
opportunity to see an ultrasound image of the fetus;
prescribing a criminal penalty for violations of this section;
and providing that nothing in the section can be construed as
approving abortion.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §33-42-9, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 42. WOMEN'S ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACT.
§33-42-9. Requirement that woman seeking abortion be given
opportunity to see ultrasound image of fetus.
Before any medical practitioner may perform an abortion, he or
she shall afford the woman seeking the abortion an opportunity to
view an ultrasound image of her unborn child. Any person who
violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor
more than $100. Nothing contained in this section may be construed
or interpreted to endorse, allow, permit or approve of abortion.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require every woman
seeking an abortion to be given the opportunity to see an
ultrasound image of the fetus. The bill also prescribes a criminal
penalty for violations of the section. It also provides that
nothing in the section can be construed as approving of abortion.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.