West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) announced in a press conference on Thursday that his state would take part in Obamacare’s optional Medicaid expansion, calling the decision “the best choice for West Virginia.” But many states still remain up in the air with their decisions, either because they haven’t decided yet or because state executives and legislators are at odds with each other on the issue — and time is running out.

Speaking at St. Francis hospital and flanked by nurses, doctors, and hospital administrators, Tomblin laid out the medical and financial case for expanding Medicaid eligibility — a conclusion that he reached after commissioning a study to examine such a move’s effects on West Virginia. “Expansion will allow us to provide insurance coverage to 91,500 West Virginians,” said Tomblin.

Indeed, West Virginia has much to gain and very little to lose by embracing the Obamacare provision. The state has abysmal health demographics, and over half of West Virginia’s uninsured population lives below 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). These poor and vulnerable populations would gain access to health coverage under the Medicaid expansion, leading the Kaiser Family Foundation to conclude that expansion will reduce the number of uninsured West Virginians by a staggering 67 percent.

Those numbers likely led Tomblin to his decision. But the moderate Democrat has an advantage that governors of other conservative — and highly uninsured — states don’t: the almost assured support of his legislature. Democrats hold a supermajority in the state Senate and an eight seat edge in the House of Delegates, and both of West Virginia’s U.S. senators also support expanding Medicaid, making intraparty barriers unlikely.

The same cannot be said of Republican Govs. Jan Brewer (AZ) and Rick Scott (FL), who have been lobbying for Medicaid expansion after intense pressure from hospital associations and advocates for the poor. Their Republican-controlled state legislatures have been bending over backwards to stop it from happening. Although there is no hard deadline for expanding Medicaid under Obamacare, many of these states’ legislative sessions are quickly coming to an end — meaning that if no agreement is reached soon, they won’t receive the additional federal funds and won’t be able to extend coverage to low-income residents for at least the first full year of Obamacare implementation.

Texas and Louisiana face similar issues. Although some GOP lawmakers in those states are contemplating Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe’s (D) alternative “private option” — which would take federal money and use it to help an expanded Medicaid pool buy private insurance — those efforts also remain in limbo, as former and current Republican presidential aspirants Govs. Rick Perry (TX) and Bobby Jindal (LA) have oscillated between flat-out rejecting expansion and being coy about their intentions.

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As George Washington High School’s student vice body president, Katelyn Campbell believes it’s her responsibility to stand up for her classmates. That’s why, when her public school’s administrators brought a conservative religious speaker to advocate for “God’s plan for sexual purity” at a mandatory assembly, the West Virginia teen began to speak out against the “slut-shaming” messages that she doesn’t want at her school. Now, after Campbell’s story has inspired strangers from around the country to offer their support to her cause, she has a message for other teens: Don’t give up the fight for comprehensive sex ed.

“No one should have to feel alone or afraid of repercussions for doing the right thing,” Campbell told ThinkProgress. “If I was able to succeed in the socially-conservative state of West Virginia, then anyone can.”

In Campbell’s conservative community, she did face some opposition after voicing her opposition to the dangerous misinformation perpetrated by abstinence-only education. Her high school principal, George Aulenbacher, threatened to call the college where she’s been accepted to tell them about her “bad character” after she began speaking to the press. At a Board of Education meeting this past Thursday to address the brewing controversy, three people spoke on behalf of Campbell and a staggering 37 people spoke against her. A Facebook group emerged in support of Campbell’s principal.

But Campbell has stood strong — seeking an injunction against Aulenbacher to protect her First Amendment rights, as well as calling for his resignation — and her efforts are having an impact. At last week’s board meeting, the President of the School Board acknowledged that he believes “stricter scrutiny” should be applied to the speakers who are invited to speak at GW High School. Campbell and her fellow students have presented their case about Aulenbacher, and a hearing this week will determine his future. And Campbell’s story has struck a nerve with the thousands of people who have reached out to her to express their support.

At first, Campbell was surprised at all of the positive responses she received after her story went public. “I’ve gotten hundreds of messages from people across the country that thank me for sticking up for myself — some have even used the word ‘hero’ — which still hasn’t sunken in,” she said in an interview with ThinkProgress.

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Even after Katelyn Campbell’s principal allegedly threatened her for speaking out against a “slut-shaming” abstinence assembly recently held at her public high school, the West Virginia teen refused to back down. Her brave stance against the dangerous misinformation perpetrated by abstinence-only education, as well as her perseverance in the face of opposition from the school’s officials, has inspired thousands of people across the country to stand behind the high school senior in support.

After George Washington High School hosted conservative religious speaker Pam Stenzel to advocate for “God’s plan for sexual purity” at a mandatory assembly, Campbell notified the ACLU. Once the press began taking interest in the situation, Campbell’s principal wasn’t pleased — in fact, she says he threatened to call Wellesley College, where she has been accepted to study in the fall, to tell them that Campbell is a “backstabber” who has “bad character.” That threat ended up badly backfiring. Here’s what has unfolded over the past several days:

Wellesley College released public statements welcoming Campbell to campus in the fall. After news broke that Katelyn’s principal allegedly suggested he planned to call Wellesley to complain about Katelyn, a spokesperson for the college provided the following statement to ThinkProgress: “Wellesley College is delighted to welcome Katelyn Campbell as a member of the Class of 2017 this fall. The Wellesley community fosters a living and learning environment where diverse opinions, ideas, and perspectives are not only welcomed, they are encouraged.” The academic institution also welcomed Katelyn with supportive messages on Twitter and Facebook.

A Wellesley College alumni group started a petition to applaud Campbell. A group called the Wellesley Sisters began a petition on Change.org to let Campbell know she’ll fit right on in campus in the fall. “In reality, your actions prove that the College couldn’t be a better fit,” the petition reads. “At Wellesley you will find students just like you: strong, independent, intelligent women who speak their minds and work to make the world a more just and equitable place.” It currently has over 1,200 signatures.

Fellow students formed a Facebook page called “Friends of Katelyn Campbell.” The Facebook page has been verifying some of the complaints that Campbell took to the ACLU, including an image of the religious flyer used to promote the event at the public high school. It has since extended beyond West Virginia, as people across the country have flooded the page with messages of solidarity. “Katelyn is an inspiration to anyone who treasures the First Amendment and values honor and courage,” reads one recent post from an ally in Indiana.

Students attended a local school board meeting this week to advocate on behalf of Campbell. On Thursday night, students took up the issue with the school board. Campbell’s lawyer advised her not to attend, but other advocates represented her point of view on her behalf. According to an update on the “Friends of Katelyn Campbell” page, the meeting was not necessarily productive. “Unfortunately, as was to be expected, Katelyn’s message continued to be chastised this evening,” the update stated. “Speakers on her behalf were berated to the point of tears, and one board member broke protocol to burst out that there needed to be more god in school and that Pam Stenzel ‘should speak in all schools.’ ”

Strangers submitted letters of support after reading Campbell’s story. After publishing a story about Campbell earlier this week, ThinkProgress has been contacted by numerous people commending the teen’s actions and requesting her contact information to share letters of support. One reader was inspired to write an open letter that he intends to deliver to Campbell’s principal. “I wanted to congratulate you and your institution for producing such an accomplished student,” the letter reads. “Surely you must feel privileged to know that you have presided over the education and awakening of such an student as accomplished as Campbell.”

A West Virginia high school student is filing an injunction against her principal, who she claims is threatening to punish her for speaking out against a factually inaccurate abstinence assembly at her school. Katelyn Campbell, who is the student body vice president at George Washington High School, alleges her principal threatened to call the college where she’s been accepted to report that she has “bad character.”

George Washington High School recently hosted a conservative speaker, Pam Stenzel, who travels around the country to advocate an abstinence-only approach to teen sexuality. Stenzel has a long history of using inflammatory rhetoric to convince young people that they will face dire consequences for becoming sexually active. At GW’s assembly, Stenzel allegedly told students that “if you take birth control, your mother probably hates you” and “I could look at any one of you in the eyes right now and tell if you’re going to be promiscuous.” She also asserted that condoms aren’t safe, and every instance of sexual contact will lead to a sexually transmitted infection.

Campbell refused to attend the assembly, which was funded by a conservative religious organization called “Believe in West Virginia” and advertised with fliers that proclaimed “God’s plan for sexual purity.” Instead, she filed a complaint with the ACLU and began to speak out about her objections to this type of school-sponsored event. Campbell called Stenzel’s presentation “slut shaming” and said that it made many students uncomfortable.

GW Principal George Aulenbacher, on the other hand, didn’t see anything wrong with hosting Stenzel. “The only way to guarantee safety is abstinence. Sometimes, that can be a touchy topic, but I was not offended by her,” he told the West Virginia Gazette last week.

But it didn’t end with a simple difference of opinion among Campbell and her principal. The high school senior alleges that Aulenbacher threatened to call Wellesley College, where Campbell has been accepted to study in the fall, after she spoke to the press about her objections to the assembly. According to Campbell, her principal said, “How would you feel if I called your college and told them what bad character you have and what a backstabber you are?” Campbell alleges that Aulenbacher continued to berate her in his office, eventually driving her to tears. “He threatened me and my future in order to put forth his own personal agenda and make teachers and students feel they cant speak up because of fear of retaliation,” she said of the incident.

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West Virginia lawmakers are forming a subcommittee to consider the potential shortfalls in the sexual education that public school students currently receive in their health classes. A regular survey of middle and high school students continues to deliver sobering statistics about teenagers’ sexual health — particularly the fact that the overwhelming majority of teens in West Virginia don’t use any form of birth control.

The 2011 survey polled about 40,000 students and found that although more than half of West Virginia’s minors are engaging in sexual activity, a staggering 74.5 percent are not using birth control. That’s only a slight decrease from the 1993 results, when 79.5 percent of teens reported they didn’t use any form of contraception. The number of students who reported they had never learned anything about preventing HIV/AIDS infection also showed little change between 1993 and 2011, barely declining from 12.9 percent to 12 percent.

Doug Chapman, the assistant director of the Office of Healthy Schools for West Virginia’s Department of Education, acknowledged that the bad news in the survey might be an impetus for lawmakers to update the state’s approach to sex ed. “We do need to have better health education,” Chapman told the Register-Herald.

West Virginia does require public schools to offer sex education and HIV education, but there are no standards for ensuring that sexual health material is medically accurate and unbiased by religion. Chapman also pointed out that students at an elementary level don’t receive any comprehensive health information.

However, despite the stark results from the health survey — and the fact that teenage pregnancy isn’t declining at all in West Virginia even as teen birth rates have been plummeting across the country — the state lawmakers on the new panel may be slow to action. The subcommittee hasn’t yet decided whether to recommend a state-wide study to assess the possibility of implementing sex education across the public school system, and some committee members are still clinging to the misguided idea that shame-based abstinence curricula can impart accurate health information to teenagers. “Isn’t [abstinence] always the best way to make sure you don’t get sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies?” one lawmaker said to justify her resistance to teaching sex ed at the grade school level.