West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation Wednesday granting more than $1 million in funding to pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.
HB 2002 increases support for families by allocating $1 million in funding to “pregnancy help organizations,” which the bill says must “not perform, prescribe, refer for or encourage abortion.”
Governor Justice signed the bill after it passed the House 31-1. (RELATED: Woman Arrested For Starting Fire At House That Was Set To Become Wyoming’s Only Abortion Clinic)
“West Virginia’s pregnancy centers empower women and impact lives for the better every day,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller. “These organizations provide free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, medical exams, counseling, parent classes, financial classes, and resources such as food, diapers, clothing, and financial assistance for housing and utilities. The pregnancy help centers are engaging in a labor of love.”
Governor Jim Justice posses with staff from Cross Roads Crisis Pregnancy Center in West Virginia during a signing ceremony for HB 2002 | SBA Pro Life America
Pro-life Crisis pregnancy centers have seen an uptick in targeted violence since the leak of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center in May 2022. To date, at least 83 of these centers have been vandalized or firebombed, according to Catholic Vote, some by radically pro-abortion groups.
Maryland recently opened an abortion clinic just five miles from the West Virginia border, as the procedure is completely banned in the latter state.
“West Virginia’s former abortion facility has chosen a very different path – setting up shop just across the border in Maryland to make a profit at the expense of human lives,” SBA Pro-Life America continued. “This is possible because of Maryland’s extreme anti-child, anti-woman laws that allow abortion on demand at any point in pregnancy for virtually any reason.”
HB 2002 also increases the state’s adoption tax credit from $4,000 to $5,000.