I recently saw this on the West Virginia Attorney General’s official Twitter account:

The WV AG announced Thursday that he signed the Women’s Bill of Rights.

Read more at https://t.co/EvUy4ghY9R

— WV Attorney General (@WestVirginiaAG) September 1, 2022

Hmmm. Had I misjudged Patrick Morrisey all these years? Was he actually a closet feminist? (Who knew?) I followed the link and found this release from his office:

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Thursday that he signed the Women’s Bill of Rights, along with nine fellow attorneys general.

Sponsored by the Independent Women’s Voice, this statement affirms the legal basis for maintaining single-sex spaces like rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, athletic teams, locker rooms and sororities.

The press release doesn’t say anything about a woman’s right to control her own body, childcare support, equal pay, or any number of women’s right’s issue. I guess there are limits to how far Morrisey and his fellow Republican AGs are willing to extend the rights of women.

So how popular was the statement by Morrisey and nine other Republican AGs? The press release tells us that the statement was signed by an underwhelming 11,000 citizens.

And who is the sponsor of this statement? It is a group called the Independent Women’s Voice. According to The Center for Media and Democracy, IWV only pretend to be independent:

“Independent” is a PR term these groups use to appeal to women while pushing corporate-backed policies or extreme candidates that actually make things harder for working women and their families, in CMD’s assessment.

The article goes on to list IWV's monetary support from the Kochs and other rightwing sources. (See also: Ansev Demirhan’s “Dark Money Authors of GOP-Led ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ Have a History of Attacking Title IX and Trans Women.”)

WV abortion poll results

Yesterday, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce released a poll of 600 West Virginians. The poll asked questions on abortion and school voucher legislation. Here is what they found on abortion:

Following the Dobbs Decision of the U.S. Supreme Court which overturned Roe v. Wade, the West Virginia Legislature has been contemplating the passage of a new law governing abortions in the state. 51% of West Virginians consider themselves pro-life, while 45% consider themselves pro-choice. As for what specific policy the state should adopt, voters are much more divided but tend to believe a policy should contain various considerations. Eighteen percent believe abortion should be completely legal in all circumstances, and thirteen percent believe it should be illegal in all circumstances. Of note, Republican voters consider themselves to be much more pro-life than pro-choice (77% - 20%), but less than 1 in 5 of those voters would support a law that did not create exemptions for rape, incest and the life and health of the mother.

These results are not nearly as extreme as some of the legislation considered in the last legislative session. Combine these results with the Kansas abortion vote; will WV Republicans propose more moderate legislation than what was considered in their last session? I have my doubts.