John Raby.

FILE - A patient prepares to take the first of two combination pills, mifepristone, for a medication abortion during a visit to a clinic in Kansas City, Kan., Oct. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

US appeals court upholds West Virginia restriction on abortion pill sales

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to restrict abortion pill sales in West Virginia. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2023 ruling. That’s despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication. A district judge determined in 2023 that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice took precedence over approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Appeals court judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote that disregarding the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade “is not an option.”

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FILE - West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks during a news conference at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

A West Virginia parent sues seeking a religious exemption from required school vaccinations

A West Virginia woman has filed a lawsuit seeking a religious exemption from required school vaccinations for her young child. Miranda Guzman alleges that the state’s vaccine mandate violates West Virginia’s 2023 religious freedom law. West Virginia was among just a handful of states that granted only medical exemptions from school vaccinations when Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order in January allowing religious exemptions. However, the state Board of Education voted this month to direct public schools to ignore the executive order and instead follow long-standing school vaccine requirements that are laid out in state law.

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