Senate Bill No. 50
(By Senators Caruth and Sypolt)
____________
[Introduced
February 11, 2009; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and
then 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 §33-42-9, 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 this section; and providing that nothing in the section can be construed
as approving of abortion.
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 §33-42-9, 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 $50 nor more than $100. Nothing contained
in this section may be construed or interpreted to endorse, allow, permit or
approve of abortion.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require every
woman seeking an abortion to 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.