West Virginia – Judge rejects argument by abortion pill maker that state ban violates Constitution

GenBioPro claimed West Virginia's ban on mifepristone was at odds with the FDA.

By Anne Flaherty
August 24, 2023

West Virginia has the right to block the sale of the abortion drug mifepristone, even though federal regulators have decided the medication is safe, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers is a blow to abortion rights groups that had hoped to strike down state bans using a novel and somewhat arcane legal argument invoking an idea known as "federal preemption."

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/judge-rejects-argument-abortion-pill-maker-state-ban/story?id=102545092


‘Dobbs did not break us’: How West Virginia’s Katie Quiñonez plans to keep helping women

Lindsay Schnell, USA TODAY
Mar 19, 2023

Katie Quiñonez is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

When the U.S. Supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade, the case guaranteeing women a constitutional right to abortion access, last summer, Katie Quiñonez felt utter devastation.

But heartbreak wasn’t the only emotion coursing through the executive director of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia – she felt determination, too.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/life/2023/03/19/katie-quinonez-west-virginia-usa-today-women-year/11248803002/


The Abortion Clinics Staying Open in Hostile States

By Andrea González-Ramírez
AUG. 19, 2022

Earlier this year, Katie Quinonez, the executive director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, had her eyes on a vacant lot next door. Purchasing the lot would allow the state’s only abortion clinic, located in the city of Charleston, to expand. Quinonez says the owner of the lot rejected the clinic’s offer, however, because the local West Virginians for Life chapter had been renting it, and the owner wanted to give the anti-abortion group until the end of the year to raise enough money to buy the property.

It was a frustrating reminder of the logistical challenges the clinic would face if it were ever to close and later attempt to reopen. The overturn of Roe v. Wade opened the door to an imminent ban on abortion in the Mountain State, making it crucial for Quinonez to plan the clinic’s next act.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2022/08/the-abortion-clinics-staying-open-in-ban-states.html


Abortion clinic staff in U.S. struggle with mental health after Roe v. Wade overturn

By Leah Willingham, The Associated Press
July 3, 2022

Danielle Maness has squeezed the hands of hundreds of anxious patients lying on tables in the procedure room, now empty. She’s recorded countless vital signs and delivered scores of snacks to the recovery area, now silent.

Peering into each darkened room at West Virginia ‘s only abortion clinic, the chief nurse wondered whether she’d ever treat patients here for abortion care again.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8963779/abortion-clinic-staff-mental-health/


Byron Calhoun says abortion is never necessary to save a mother’s life. He’s the only high-risk OB/GYN in central West Virginia.

By Caroline Kitchener
Sept. 10, 2021

At a 2019 antiabortion conference in Ontario, Canada, Byron Calhoun was introduced as a “messenger of God.”

The doctor assumed the podium in a pinstripe suit and bow tie, his high forehead glinting underneath the hotel ballroom’s bright fluorescents. Dozens of conference-goers clapped, then grew quiet, eyes fixed on Calhoun and the statistic that brought them all there, blown up on a banner behind him: “1 out of every 5 babies is killed by abortion.”

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/the-lily/antiabortion-doctor-obgyn-care/


USA – The Last Abortion Clinic in West Virginia

The Last Abortion Clinic in West Virginia

Esther Wang
Nov 18, 2019

The Women’s Health Center in Charleston, West Virginia is an unassuming, single-story beige brick building in a shabby neighborhood, just steps from the train tracks and a crisis pregnancy center, a shuttered vape shop, and a row of small homes surrounded by chainlink fences. I visited the center, the last abortion clinic in the state, on a Wednesday in June, one of the two days each week that the clinic performs abortions. Christopher McComas, 52, stood by the entrance to the clinic’s parking lot, equipped with a cell phone that he trained at everyone who approached the clinic.

“Hey brother, can I talk to you for a second? Please, for a second? Do you think it’s going to be a boy or a girl? Does it have blue eyes, or maybe brown eyes?” McComas yelled at one couple, a tall photo of a blood-covered fetus propped up by his side. “God loves you, please don’t do this ma’am! I beg you not to do this! It could be a boy or a girl,” he continued to yell at the couple as they entered the clinic, shielded by a large umbrella held by a clinic escort. “It could have brown hair!”

Continued: https://jezebel.com/the-last-abortion-clinic-in-west-virginia-1838886688


USA – How these state-level abortion laws could have widespread impact on people across the country

How these state-level abortion laws could have widespread impact on people across the country

By Charlotte West
Nov. 13, 2018

The 2018 midterm elections paved the way for a slew of state-level legislation related to abortion on both sides of the issue. Alabamian and West Virginian voters approved anti-abortion rights amendments to their state constitutions, while Oregonians voted down a similar ballot initiative. With Democrats now in control of the governor’s mansion and both legislative chambers, New York is poised to become the first state to enact legislation that would enshrine Roe v. Wade abortion protections since Brett Kavanaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court.

States across the country are gearing up in case the 1973 landmark decision guaranteeing the constitutional right to an abortion is overturned. If that were to happen, access to abortion would become even more uneven than it already is with the existing patchwork of state legislation.

Continued: https://mic.com/articles/192424/abortion-laws-alabama-west-virginia-roe-v-wade-nationwide-impact#.EKYOE0jky


USA – Voters in Two States Approved Abortion Restrictions on Tuesday

Voters in Two States Approved Abortion Restrictions on Tuesday

By Abigail Abrams
Nov 7, 2018

Two out of three states that were considering adding restrictions on abortion approved ballot measures on Tuesday.

In Alabama and West Virginia, voters approved measures that would set the stage for significantly restricting access to the procedure if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court. Another measure in Oregon failed.

Continued: http://time.com/5447142/abortion-restrictions-ballot-measures/ Voters in Two States Approved Abortion Restrictions on Tuesday