West Virginia's Counseling For Life Act Case Study

To determine if West Virginia’s Counseling for Life Act imposes an undue burden on a women seeking an abortion, four different aspects of the act needs to be analyzed which include: 72 hour wait period, transabdominal ultrasound, transvaginal ultrasounds, and the counseling sessions. Each one of these aspects of the act will be analyzed using abortion jurisprudence established in Casey and Whole Woman’s Health, especially taking into account the burden versus the benefit. The first aspect that should be analyzed in this new act is the increased in the statutory waiting period from 24 hours to 72 hours. Not much information is mention as to what benefits this serves in protecting the state interest of women’s health and the viability of a fetus. The decision in Casey did not establish a definition in what is considered a reasonable time for the statutory waiting period. As the fact pattern states, Casey allowed states to enact a time period in which they felt that a …show more content…
This is important since “ninety-eight precedent of West Virginia counties have no abortion providers,” and “ninety percent of West Virginia women live in these countries” as stated in the District Court Ruling. This means that a majority of women will have to travel to these clinics which could impose a financial burden, just like Julie Doe experienced, since they might have to take time off of work or even spend money for travel and lodging. Furthermore, the state argues that the number of abortions are increasing in West Virginia. Thus, this provision does not stop a woman from obtaining an abortion, but it does substantially increase the cost of obtaining the abortion. Furthermore, in Casey domestic abuse was discussed since abortion could led to domestic abuse. Although a woman does not have to inform her husband about obtaining an abortion, this provision makes it harder for her to do so. Logically speaking it will be hard for a woman to make an excuse as to why she