Mind of a Progressive: WV Amendment 1, Bait and Switch

by Gary Thompson

I attended an educational meeting about the West Virginia Constitutional Amendment 1 on Wednesday evening, Oct. 24.  This amendment has been passed by the entire West Virginia Legislature and is going to be on the ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 6 2018.  

To be ratified into law this amendment requires a majority approval of West Virginia voters.  Before you vote for this and pass it into law, please be aware:  

THIS LAW IS A BAIT AND SWITCH THAT IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO OUTLAW ABORTIONS IN WEST VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THOSE ARISING FROM RAPE, INCEST OR EVEN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY.

One of the sponsors of this legislation, Senator Mike Azinger of the 3rd district, which includes Wood, Wirt and Pleasants Counties, attended the educational meeting also.  In his words, the amendment’s only purpose is to eliminate the ability to use Medicaid funding to pay for abortions in West Virginia.  He insisted that the law would have no effect on the legal right of a citizen of West Virginia to legally get in abortion in West Virginia, because the Federal Constitution as upheld in Rowe v Wade, guarantees the right to abortions in the United States.  What Senator Azinger neglected to mention and even tried to deny when it was specifically brought to his attention, was that if Rowe v Wade is overturned in the US Supreme Court then abortions, all abortions, become a felony crime in West Virginia.

At this point it important to remember that with the appointment of Justice Kavanaugh, the US Supreme Court probably has enough votes to overturn Rowe v. Wade.  Remember also, that overturning of this law, passed in 1973, has been a litmus test that President Trump has expressly used for selecting nominees to the US Supreme Court.

But it doesn’t stop there.  Again, when pressed, Senator Azinger admitted that he is working behind the scenes to get Rowe v. Wade overturned.  

There you have it.  The Bait and Switch ‘Don’t worry, it only eliminates state funding’, is what is being said out loud to encourage you to pass this amendment.  Once it is in place, an act by the US Supreme Court, that no West Virginian will ever be able to vote upon, will have the ability to make abortions a crime in West Virginia.

But it still doesn’t stop there.  The Legislature had the opportunity to exclude pregnancies arising from incest or rape from this law.  The chose not to do so. If you have a medical background, know this: This law makes abortion of a fetus arriving from an ectopic pregnancy (pregnancies that occur outside the normal uterine area) a felony.  Understand that unterminated ectopic pregnancies always end in the death of the fetus and often end in the death of the mother. Terminating that pregnancy will become a crime.

But it STILL doesn’t end there.  This law makes ‘aiding and abetting’ an abortion a crime.  This means that if your mother drives you to an abortion clinic in another state to get an abortion she could be prosecuted for a felony.

VOTE on Tuesday, Nov. 6 Don’t let this happen.  Don’t just vote against this legislation, vote against the people who are trying to hoodwink you into buying such a horrible plan.