Posted on 07/18/2022 12:48:03 PM PDT by Morgana
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - On Monday afternoon, a West Virginia circuit judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of West Virginia’s 1800s-era criminal abortion ban.
As a result, abortions are once again legal in the Mountain State.
This case pits the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia against the State of West Virginia. The ACLU, on behalf of the Health Center, was seeking an injunction to stop the enforcement of the 100-year-old law that criminalized abortion in West Virginia.
The ACLU argues the state’s criminal abortion statute cannot co-exist with modern laws passed since Roe V. Wade. That includes the state’s 20-week ban on abortion and, more recently, a ban on abortions sought because of a disability, such as Down Syndrome.
The ACLU contends that every day the law remains enforceable those who are pregnant are forced to have their own abortions, travel out of state or remain pregnant against their will.
Following the decision Monday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey released the following statement: “This is a dark day for West Virginia. We will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Appeals as soon as legally possible. As a strong pro-life advocate, I am committed to protecting unborn babies to the fullest extent possible under the law, and I will not rest until this injunction is lifted. The current law on the books calls for the protection of life.”
The state Attorney General’s Office contends those representing the state’s only abortion clinic lack standing to bring a case on behalf of all pregnant women and that the court must consider a special public interest - the life-or-death stakes of unborn children, who it calls the most vulnerable in society.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsaz.com ...
Judges ???? Running the country now and defying Supreme Court again?????
I can’t find the judge’s name in the article. Seems like that would be a basic element of the story, but maybe my eyes are just tired.
I understand your sentiment, but this Judge’s action, while despicable on all fronts, is absolutely not defying the Supreme Court. This is a state level matter being decided by judges within that state... as it should be!
“The ACLU contends that every day the law remains enforceable those who are pregnant are forced to have their own abortions, travel out of state or remain pregnant against their will.”
And other laws force pedophiles to have to travel out of country to Thailand. So what?
Tara Salango Circuit Judge
http://www.courtswv.gov/public-resources/press/circuitJudgesMasterList2017.html#teraSalango
"A stooge in time beats 9"
Judge Salango lives in Charleston with her husband, Ben, and two sons. She is active in the Charleston community, having served on numerous boards that focus on helping children.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango. She was elected.
“This is a state level matter being decided by judges within that state... as it should be!”
Agreed
But under what WV legal STATE guideline is the Judge stopping an existing law, that has been on the books for 150 years?
That’s the question.
Unless this judge is just doing whatever the phook he/she/yet to decide wants to do. Not enforced in 50 years makes no sense, as Roe was the law.
At what point do we take up pitchforks?
Sounds like a there is a genuine legal question if the 20 week ban was passed recently but not enforced until now.
In the end, the legislature will probably act quickly to put the 1800s ban back into effect.
Will be quickly reversed.
I would say that it should NOT be decided by judges. The whole idea is that status of whether abortion is legal or not should be decided by the legislative process. It should be debated, and legislators should have to cast a vote one way of the other. Then the voters get to decide the matter, ultimately. One judge, or a slim majority of judges on the supreme court should not be deciding what is a law. They can interpret if the law is constitutional. They can determine if a case is subject to this law or that. They should not be unilaterally creating or dismissing a law.
Can you blame people for thinking that? The media has sold this to the masses as the Supreme Court has outlawed abortions. I bet only 1 in 10 people would correctly point out that it just returned the decision to the states.
This is not much help without the judge being identified for those who will go to vote against him or her.
More BS. Fake news. I’m sure they updated the laws since 1800.
They will lie with impunity.
Why don't judges have to address the same ripeness tests they impose on people bringing the cases?
The time to challenge these laws was when they were passed, or better, when they were being debate and legislated. It's too late to wait decades before trying to block it.
-PJ
I don’t think either side likes the way little judges can thwart an action, and other refresh it, and the next one blocks it and the legislature adjourns without settling it.
But the old solution “it’s going to have to go to the SCOTUS” doesn’t seem to work. The leftists then stage a rally, dox the judges, surround their homes and everything is overruled again.
What a country.
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