Senate Bill 146 would establish the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The bill would recognize an embryo or fetus as a distinct unborn victim of certain crimes of violence against the person, and it would establish that the pregnant woman and the embryo or fetus she is carrying in the womb constitute separate and distinct victims. Exceptions to the bill include: acts committed during a medical abortion; acts or omissions by medical or health care personnel as a result of medical services; acts or omissions by medical or health care personnel in performing lawful procedures involving embryos that are not in a state of development in utero; acts involving the use of force in lawful defense of self or another, but not an embryo or fetus; and, acts or omissions of a pregnant woman in respect to the embryo or fetus she is carrying.
House Bill 2495 would repeal the section of the West Virginia Code regarding jail inspection. Currently the code states that at least once every year the circuit court of each county must appoint three persons including a physician, to inspect the jail. These individuals are to inspect the jails and report its condition. This bill will repeal this section.
