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WV Voters Pass Constitutional Amendment Restricting State Funding for Abortions
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia voters have approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow lawmakers to restrict or outlaw state funding for Medicaid abortions.
The amendment approved Tuesday came after the Republican-led Legislature earlier this year approved a resolution to add a line to the state constitution that reads: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.”
Opponents say it would put the issue in the hands of the Legislature, which could ban Medicaid-funded abortions in cases of rape, incest or when a woman or girl’s health is at risk.
In 1993, the state Supreme Court struck down a Medicaid funding ban for abortions as unconstitutional.