WV Senate passes “Women’s Bill of Rights” 

CHARLESTON – As the West Virginia Legislature reached its 20th day in session Monday, March 3, the Senate approved a dozen bills and resolutions, including a controversial “Women’s Bill of Rights.” 

Senate Bill 456, introduced by Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, and sponsored by Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, is a top priority for Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s push to eliminate what he calls “wokeness.” 

The bill would define “male” and “female” in state code in an effort to exclude transgender people from anti-discrimination laws. It would also require transgender people to use restrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters, jails and prisons based on their assigned sex at birth. 

SB 456 further restricts recognition of intersex people, whose physical and genetic characteristics at birth aren’t clearly male or female. Up to 1.7 percent of the population is intersex, and studies show up to 60 percent of intersex people go on to identify as a different sex than the one assigned to them at birth. 

Introducing the bill for its third reading, Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, urged passage. 

“This is good legislation that protects the women of West Virginia from the cultural war being declared on them,” Stuart said. 

Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, rose in opposition of the bill. Garcia said his faith guided him to conclude the bill should not pass, adding that his beliefs call him to “lead with love” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” 

“We’re talking about so few people, but those people are our neighbors. I may not understand what they’re going through, but I’d like to think that we were called to have some compassion for them,” Garcia said. “The question is, ‘Does this bill hurt our neighbors?’ I believe the answer is yes.” 

Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, spoke in support of the bill. Referencing Garcia’s invocation of the bible, Roberts, reading from the Book of Genesis, said “God created man in his own image–male and female.” He argued that stating the facts as he sees them in “the foundational book of the Bible” does not equal a lack of love or compassion. 

SB 456 saw broad support in the Senate with 32 members voting for its passage. 

A similar bill in the house, House Bill 2006, saw its second reading Monday. 

In other Senate news…

SB 124 was approved along party lines, with the two Democratic Senators opposing its passage. The bill lowers the statute of limitations for lawsuits seeking damages associated with breached contracts. Current law allows petitioners to file suit within ten years for a signed, written contract and five years for an oral or unsigned contract. SB 124 would reduce these time frames to five years and two years, respectively. 

The Senate also unanimously passed several other bills, including: 

• SB 29, permitting physician assistants to own a practice
• SB 50, requiring municipalities hold their elections on the same day as state elections
• SB 198, prohibiting the creation of child sexual abuse materials through digital manipulation and artificial intelligence 
• SB 482, establishing a permitting process for midwives
• SB 496, removing a requirement for “energy healers” to be licensed as massage therapists
• SB 534, removing the requirement for Class I polygraph technicians to hold a bachelor’s degree or Class II polygraph technicians to hold an associate degree
• SB 537, allowing pregnancy help organizations–including controversial, anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers–to use government funding for capital expenditures, adding services, meeting licensing and accreditation standards and training staff and volunteers. 

The Senate adopted two resolutions Monday: 

• Senate Resolution 18 declares March 3 “Future Farmers Day.” 

• House Concurrent Resolution 49 calls on the Maryland General Assembly to reject legislation designating the North Branch of the Potomac River for “Cold Water Aquatic Life.” The resolution says several West Virginia communities, including Beryl, Keyser, Rocket Center and Seymour, have industrial sites with permits to discharge into the river. 

If the state of Maryland changes the designation of the North Branch of the Potomac River from “Warm Water Aquatic Life” to “Cold Water Aquatic Life,” the resolution argues the time and cost incurred by these sites to apply for a new permit would be burdensome. 

HCR 49 further instructs West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey to investigate the constitutionality of Maryland’s legislation. It also argues the legislation would unduly burden the state of West Virginia by “impairing interstate commerce” and violate the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.