Michael B. Stuart

General Counsel

Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the General Counsel

As HHS General Counsel, Stuart serves as the chief legal representative and advisor to the Secretary and the Department. He supports the development and implementation of the Department’s programs by providing legal services and guidance on reproductive health and rights policies and regulations. In this role, Stuart also guides and advises on reproductive health and rights related lawsuits involving the Department.

Michael B. Stuart left the role of General Counsel on June 1, 2026, after it was revealed that he personally invested in a major HHS contractor.

Top Red Flags

Supported multiple pieces of anti-abortion legislation in his role as state senator in the West Virginia legislature, including cosponsoring a bill to remove the rape and incest exceptions from West Virginia’s abortion ban.
Endorsed by the anti-abortion group West Virginians for Life.
Highlighted his attendance at an anti-abortion convention and promoted his fight for the “right to life” in his state senatorial campaign.

Legislation

Stuart was elected to the West Virginia State Senate in 2022, representing West Virginia’s 7th District. As a member of the State Senate in West Virginia, Stuart cosponsored and/or voted for numerous bills restricting abortion and funding fake clinics (so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs)), including the below.

“Women’s Right to Know Act” (SB 552)
- Imposes additional informed consent requirements for abortions provided under the exception to West Virginia’s ban for nonviable pregnancies.
Bill Removing Rape and Incest Exception (SB 584)
- Expands West Virginia’s abortion ban to eliminate the limited exceptions for abortions in the case of rape and incest.
Bill Creating Additional Informed Consent Requirements (SB 352)
- Modifies the state’s abortion ban by creating additional informed consent requirements, including promoting falsehoods about “abortion reversal.”
“Support For Mothers and Babies Act” (SB 620)
- Expands funding for crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), anti-abortion fake clinics that try to block patients from accessing abortion services.
Bill Prohibiting the Use or Sale of Abortifacients (SB 85)
- Criminalizes the prescription, mailing, and distribution of medication abortion to a person in West Virginia unless it falls within the state’s abortion ban exceptions.
- Subjects non-medical professionals to up to ten years in prison for violating the law, while medical professionals risk losing their license.

Publications

Stuart has identified himself as “unapologetically pro-life.”
- Stuart advanced false and misleading rhetoric about reproductive rights by drawing false equivalencies between abortion and public health.
- While attending the 2023 “West Virginia for Life Convention,” Stuart reiterated his commitment to the “right to life.”