H. B. 3298
(By Delegates Brown, Hrutkay, Poling, Webster
and Hatfield)
[Introduced March 25, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §16-5B-14, relating
to requiring faith-based, abstinence only and antichoice
facilities or organizations to have certain written policies
and procedures.
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 §16-5B-14, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5B. HOSPITALS AND SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS.
§16-5B-14. Antichoice facilities to have written policies and
procedures.
(a) Facilities that promote themselves as prolife, antichoice,
faith-based or abstinence only facilities and offer informational
or counseling services to pregnant girls or women shall have written policies and procedures that include, but are not limited
to:
(1) Safety rules and practices relating to personnel that
require full disclosure and information to pregnant girls and women
regarding sex education, contraception, pregnancy, adoption,
abortions, childbirth and the care and education of children.
(2) Procedures and information that fully disclose the type of
equipment, gases, liquids, drugs, supplies and services used in
obtaining an abortion, used in the care and treatment of a
pregnancy and childbirth, and any correlating side effects and the
costs of each procedure.
(3) Provisions for disseminating information to users of the
facility regarding rape, incest, spouse abuse, adoption, child
abuse, child support, children's health insurance polices,
government benefits and other social issues related to the birth,
life and welfare of a child.
(4) Provisions for disseminating information to users of the
facility regarding the cost of contraceptives, abortions,
adoptions, childbirth and child rearing, including, but not limited
to, costs of health care and education of a child.
(b) Nothing in this section may be construed or interpreted to
condone, permit, allow or endorse any form of coercion for a girl
or woman regarding any means of contraception, abortion, childbirth
or child care.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require faith-based,
abstinence-only and antichoice facilities to have certain written
policies and procedures.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.