Senate Bill No. 177
(By Senator Caruth)
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[Introduced
January, 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and
then to the Committee on the Judiciary .]
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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 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.