Under the executive order put into place by Governor Justice on April 29, the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia was able to resume full patient services, including abortion care without delay.
In April, ACLU-WV filed a lawsuit challenging the government’s assertion that an earlier executive order closing medical facilities in the state applied to abortion care.
With the new order in place, ACLU-WV filed a notice of dismissal in our case on Wednesday, and the case has now been closed.
"Women's Health Center of West Virginia is once again providing abortion care without delay in addition to our many other vital reproductive health services,” said said Katie Quiñonez, Women’s Health Center executive director. “We're happy that our patients are no longer being forced by state leaders to delay essential health care during a public health crisis."
ACLU-WV Executive Director Joseph Cohen said that state officials should get back to focusing on protecting people from the virus, not playing politics with people’s rights.
“We’re glad that this matter is resolved, but it’s important to remember that West Virginia politicians were attacking access to abortion care long before the COVID-19 emergency. We need our leaders to focus – now more than ever – on keeping West Virginians safe from this virus and not to use it as a guise to force a radical political agenda,” Cohen said.