H. B. 2132

(By Delegates Overington, Louisos, Rowan, Evans, Frich, Blair and Carmichael)

[Introduced February 10, 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 §61-2-8a, relating to justification to use deadly force by a pregnant woman when she reasonably believes that her unborn child's life is threatened.
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 §61-2-8a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-8a. Deadly force justified to protect unborn child.
A pregnant woman is justified to use deadly force to protect the life of her unborn child if she reasonably believes that her unborn child's life is threatened by a criminal action, even though the woman does not fear for her own life.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide justification to use deadly force when a pregnant woman reasonably believes that her unborn child's life is threatened, even though the pregnant woman does not fear for her own life.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.