West Virginia Campaign Will Illuminate Abortion Clinics’ War on Women

State   |   Claire Chretien   |   Jul 26, 2013   |   4:27PM   |   Charleston, WV

The legal charges against the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia are not the only challenge that it faces if it wants to continue performing unregulated abortions.  The Family Policy Council of West Virginia has launched an “Illuminate” campaign to urge West Virginia to begin ensuring that its abortion centers are maintaining proper medical standards.

The Illuminate campaign seeks to show West Virginia the urgent need to increase the regulation of the abortion industry and ensure the safety of women.  The campaign is based upon the Bible verse Ephesians 5:11-13: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.”

One of the atrocities that the Family Policy Council of West Virginia is demanding that the state address is outlined in Gravely v. StephensAccording to the lawsuit, 26-year-old Itai Gravely changed her mind about the abortion for which she was scheduled upon learning that Women’s Health Center couldn’t provide her with an adequate amount of anesthesia.  Ignoring her wishes, abortionist Rodney Lee Stephens proceeded with the abortion, ordering his employees to physically restrain her and perform the abortion.

The next day, Gravely was in the emergency room because Stephens hadn’t completed the abortion.  He had left her baby’s head in her womb.

The Illuminate Campaign also seeks to “mobilize comments by West Virginians and pro-life organizations as requested by the West Virginia Attorney General in support of reasonable health and safety regulations of an otherwise unregulated abortion industry,” and encourage lawmakers to pass common-sense health and safety regulations to prevent atrocities like the ones detailed in Gravely v. Stephens.  West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey began investigating the state’s abortion facility regulations after Gravely v. Stephens was filed.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia and the pro-life citizens that it represents across the state are making sure that elected officials remember their responsibility to all West Virginians, including women and children.  Like pro-life advocates across America who are discovering their local abortion facilities are far from safe, West Virginians are shining a light on the dark dealings of their state’s abortion industry, and are demanding a change from the anti-woman status quo.