……..I normally try to steer clear of issues that are private and sacrosanct to individuals.   Abortion is one of those issues.  No matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice is a very personal matter between you and your God, whomever you might perceive him (or her) to be.   I get that and I respect that and that is one issue I will not debate.    But, there is no way I can stay silent on the recent action of the United States  Supreme Court.   The ruling on Roe v Wade has turned the issue of abortion back to the States and I fear that cooler heads will not prevail and concern for women of all beliefs and circumstances will get lost in the fray.

……The Roe v Wade ruling in 1973, superseded   the laws the individual States had in place.      ( An interesting aside, Jane Doe was an unmarried woman from Texas who was pregnant with her third child.   It took four years for  the case to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.  By that time, Jane Doe had given birth and given the baby  up for adoption making the issue moot in the eyes of some legal minds.)   Some States like California and New York don’t have laws banning abortion and little will change for the women who reside in those States.  Other States like Texas and West Virginia, however,  present a different scenario.

…Does abortion automatically become illegal in West Virginia?  The answer is somewhat ambiguous.   The statue making abortion a felony predates the State of West Virginia.   It was adopted by the Virginia Legislature and made part of the West Virginia law in 1868.   It was included in the rewrite of the State Code in 1923 and still remains on the books.   It makes an exception if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or the child.  The statute makes it a felony to perform an abortion punishable by 3-10 years.   Complicating the issue is that additional amendments to that section of the code have been passed in more recent years to restrict access.   Laws have been passed which forbids abortion when the fetus is capable of feeling pain.  Medicaid funding of abortion was halted except when the life of the mother was at risk.   Parental consent was required if the mother was not an emancipated female.  Easy decisions, you say.  Not at all.  Not for me.   For every rationale, there is a “what if?” to be considered.   It makes perfect sense that a  parent should know before his/her daughter has an abortion and written consent be provided.  After all, any surgery on a minor requires parental consent, why not abortion?    But, what about cases of incest?  Do you want the very person who impregnated the girl making that decision?  In perfect world   parents are caring people who should be told about their daughter’s pregnancy and plans to get an abortion.   But, as we all know we do not live in a perfect world. 

……Thirteen States have “trigger” laws which means laws banning abortion are set to go into effect when the Supreme Court ruling was overturned.    West Virginia is not one of those states and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has said that relying on the 1923 law would be difficult to defend in a Court challenge.   He suggests that a Special Session of the Legislature be called.  Governor Justice concurs and has expressed his willingness to call a special session to deal with the issue immediately.  Given the conservative control in the current Legislature, I have no doubt a complete ban on abortion will soon be passed in West Virginia .  Anticipating that action, the only abortion clinic in West Virginia, which is located in Charleston, closed its  doors today. 

…….While those of us who came of age during the time when laws  banned the use of contraceptives, closed Planned Parenthood Clinics, and a woman’s future was pretty much in the hands of men, understood the battles that have been waged to arrive at autonomy, the younger generation of women is pretty much in shock.     It was the mid—seventies before a woman could get her own credit card or apply for a mortgage on her own.  As ludicrous as it sounds today,  married women couldn’t continue to work in some companies and pregnant women were out of the question.   Many a women concealed both their marriage and their pregnancy just to keep their jobs.. 

……. The problem with legislating an issue like abortion, is that one size does fit all.  Circumstances vary, religious believes are different (Jewish people believe life begins at birth) and medical issues complicate whether abortion is an option or a necessity.   Women make up over fifty percent of the voting populace and it been fifty years since they have marshalled their forces.   I predict they will do so again.  And, when they do, rest assured they will be formidable.