H. B. 3020
(By Delegate Caruth)
[Introduced February 14, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article forty-two, chapter thirty-three of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nine, 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
the section; and providing nothing in the section can be
construed as approving of abortion.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article forty-two, chapter thirty-three of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine,
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 fifty
dollars nor more than one hundred dollars. Nothing contained in
this section may be construed or interpreted to endorse, allow,
permit or approve of any abortion.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
require every woman
seeking an abortion 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.