West Virginians all have “a heart for the babies,” and we celebrated our pro-life commitment on Valentine’s Day at our annual Rally for Life in the Capitol Rotunda in Charleston.  We had a wonderful turn-out to hear presentations from Governor Tomblin, Senate Speaker Jeff Kessler and many of our hard-working pro-life legislators.

We were all educated by Dr. Byron Calhoun, Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at West Virginia University, a specialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine.  He discussed fetal pain and the reason we must all work to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.  We are proud of the work of our new Legislative Coordinator, Camille Armstrong, to have the bill introduced in the House as H.B. 4414 by Delegate David Perry.  The Senate bill of the same name was S.B. 589 and Senate President Jeff Kessler was the lead sponsor.

The two bills mentioned above and a third bill (S.B. 489) introduced in the Senate by Senate President Jeff Kessler, would have prevented taxpayer subsidies for health insurance covering abortion, but all three of the bills died in the committees they were referenced to.  Camille is already working on strategy for next year.

We know from experience that when pro-life constituents talk to their representatives, it can give our legislators the extra incentive they need to work for passage of pro-life legislation.  This important pro-life work couldn’t be accomplished without your on-going support of our work.  In spite of these bills being killed, we thank you for all you did to promote the cause of life during this legislative session.