SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 2
(By Senators Smith, Weeks and Minear)
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[Introduced January 16, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending article VI thereof by adding thereto a new
section, designated section 57, relating to providing that the
Constitution of West Virginia does not grant, offer, confer,
bestow or imply a right of a woman to an abortion; numbering
and designating such proposed amendment; and providing a
summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed
amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of
the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment
to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to
the voters of the State at the next general election to be held in
the year 2004, which proposed amendment is that article VI thereof
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section 57, to read as follows:
ARTICLE VI. THE LEGISLATURE.
§57. Abortion not authorized under any provision of this
Constitution.
No provision of this Constitution may be construed or
interpreted to grant, offer, confer, bestow or imply a right to an
abortion.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of
article 11, chapter 3 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, such proposed amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment No.
1" and designated as the "Amendment stating that the West Virginia
Constitution does not grant a right to an abortion" and the purpose
of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: "To clarify
that the West Virginia Constitution does not provide a right for an
abortion."
NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to amend the State
Constitution to clarify that the Constitution does not provide a
right for an abortion.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.