Relating to the right to reproductive freedom with protections for health and safety
House Joint Resolution 25 proposes a constitutional amendment to add a new section to Article III of the West Virginia Constitution establishing a right to reproductive freedom with protections for health and safety. The amendment would recognize an individual’s right to make and carry out reproductive decisions, including contraception, fertility treatment, continuing a pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. It would also bar the state from burdening, penalizing, prohibiting, interfering with, or discriminating against the exercise of that right, or against those who assist in exercising it, unless the state can satisfy a least-restrictive-means standard tied to the individual’s health and accepted medical standards.
The proposal expressly allows abortion to be prohibited after fetal viability, but it creates an exception when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health. The resolution would place the proposed amendment before voters at the 2026 general election and would label it “Amendment 1” with the short title “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.”
If adopted by voters, the resolution would amend the state constitution and supersede conflicting state laws to the extent they restrict the newly recognized reproductive freedom right. It would affect laws and regulations governing contraception, fertility treatment, pregnancy continuation, miscarriage care, abortion access, and related medical services, while also limiting state action against providers, clinics, and others who assist individuals in exercising those rights. The measure would not itself create detailed implementing statutes, but it would establish a constitutional standard that future legislation and enforcement would have to satisfy.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes in the provided materials, the measure appears to be framed as a rights-protective constitutional amendment centered on reproductive autonomy and health care access. The sponsor’s stated purpose is to preserve the right to reproductive freedom, suggesting support from proponents who favor constitutional protection for abortion and related reproductive health decisions. No formal vote history or transcript is available here to show broader legislative sentiment.
The main point of contention is likely abortion policy, especially the scope of constitutional protection and the viability exception. Supporters would view the amendment as protecting reproductive autonomy, access to care, and physician judgment, while opponents may object to constitutionalizing abortion rights and limiting the state’s ability to regulate abortion after viability. Additional tension may arise over the “least restrictive means” standard, the inclusion of assistance to individuals exercising the right, and the broad coverage of fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and contraception.