West Virginia Lawmakers OK Abortion Ban With Few Exceptions
CHARLESTON - After 47 days of being paused, the West Virginia Legislature passed an updated abortion ban with limited exceptions on Tuesday.
Republicans in the House of Delegates and state Senate came together on a compromise to House Bill 302, clarifying West Virginia’s abortion laws. The Senate passed the bill 22-7 and the House passed the bill 78-17, sending the bill to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice.
The compromise bill agreed to behind closed doors by House and Senate Republicans in negotiations this week would ban all abortions unless a licensed medical professional’s reasonable judgment calls for an abortion, such as cases of a non-medically viable fetus, ectopic pregnancies, or medical emergencies.
The amended bill would only allow abortions to be performed by medical or osteopathic doctors at licensed medical facilities, such as hospitals. The bill would effectively prohibit procedures at abortion clinics, such as the Women’s Health Center, West Virginia’s only abortion clinic.
Abortions in the instances of sexual assault or incest would be exempted from the abortion ban up to eight weeks of gestation for adults and 14 weeks for minors. A report of sexual assault or incest must be made to law enforcement and provided to the licensed medical professional performing the abortion. For minors, the patients would also be required to obtain medical treatment for sexual assault or incest.
Medical professionals who perform abortions outside of the bill’s provisions would not be subject to criminal penalties, but they would be at risk of losing their medical licenses. The bill still provides protections to women who have an abortion procedure from criminal prosecution.
Non-medical professionals, and medical professionals who are not doctors or who have lost their licenses would be subject to felony criminal penalties if they perform abortions. Sentences could range from three to 10 years in prison.
“They would have to knowingly and willfully induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion with the intent to purposely violate the law,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, a pulmonologist in Charleston. “I think there has been painstaking detail so that we err on the side of a physician that is trying to take care of their patient and not violate the law.”
State Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, disagreed. A physician in his hometown of Madison, Stollings said he continues to hear concerns from obstetricians and gynecologists who fear losing their medical licenses if HB 302’s provisions are misinterpreted.
“It’s not the people who want to have an elective abortion that I worry about. It’s the ones who want to have wonderful prenatal care, to have the safe delivery, and to raise that child,” Stollings said. “When we’re poking OBN-gynecology doctors in the eye, it sends the wrong message. Women should not be on death’s door before they can receive the treatment of their choice.”
The bill also requires abortion statistics to be reported to the Department of Health and Human Resources, with quarterly medical reports being sent to medical licensing boards and the Legislature.
In the House, galleries were cleared and closed off to spectators after pro-abortion protesters began yelling at Republican House members making a case for the bill. More members spoke against HB 302 than spoke for it, with House Democrats leading the opposition.
“I think we’re going just a little bit too far,” said Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, the chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Executive Committee. “This is the most intrusive bill I’ve seen … All we’re saying is they should simply be allowed to make this very personal and important decision on their own with their family and with their doctor, without you.”
“Are mountaineers always free?” asked Del. Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, vice-chair of the WVDEC. “I am shaken to my core, and I will definitely be a red vote on this bill, because I definitely respect the choices of the mountaineers who I know are capable of making decisions on their healthcare.”
Justice called a special session to consider a 10% personal income tax on July 25, amending his special session proclamation asking the Legislature to clarify and modernize the state’s abortion laws. But the House and Senate paused the special session on July 29 after the House refused to concur with changes the Senate made to the bill.
In a June decision, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed two previous high court decisions that gave women the right to abortion access, returning the issue back to the states. A circuit court in Kanawha County issued a preliminary injunction against West Virginia’s felony abortion law, which dates back to the mid-1800s and came back to life when Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey - two decisions that upheld the right for women to seek an abortion -- were struck down.
“We have now had over 50 years of a culture in the advent of Roe v. Wade that has changed our society in fundamentally negative and terrible ways,” said Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock. “We need to get back to protecting the weak and the innocent. There is nothing more innocent and weak and vulnerable than an unborn child.”
McGeehan was lead sponsor of House Resolution 302, a statement of the sentiments of the House of Delegates regarding HB 302, stating that “abortion as an act ill-fitting for a peaceful and virtuous people.” The resolution also attempts to re-establish that “mothers are obliged to care for their children.”
“West Virginia’s historic rejection of abortion implicitly recognizes the obligation a mother has to her unborn child, and in doing so, it harmonizes with the pre-Roe mores and social norms which did, and still do, characterize the people of West Virginia, who do not countenance the neglect of children at any stage of life,” the resolution stated.
In a poll conducted Sept. 1-9 by Change Research on behalf of the West Virginia Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists with 840 likely voters under the age of 35, 34% of respondents said they did not approve of abortion but do not believe the government should prevent someone from making an abortion decision, while 46% support the right to abortion and believe it should be legal and available.
Tuesday’s vote on HB 302 brought the third special session of the year to a close. Interest groups for and against abortion weighed on the passage of the modern abortion ban.
“The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision returned abortion law to the people’s representatives in the state legislatures where it belongs,” said Wanda Franz, president of West Virginians for Life. “Today the WV Legislature has passed a bill that will save thousands of babies’ lives here in WV. WVFL thanks the pro-life legislators who support protection for all human life.”
“There is nothing more extreme than a law that strips people of the freedom to govern their own bodies, and our state lawmakers have shamefully forced this despicable bill down our throats, behind closed doors in a matter of hours,” said Alisa Clements, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “This cruel ban insults West Virginia doctors, endangering their patients’ lives while subjecting them to appalling government surveillance, and threatens to put other medical providers in prison simply for providing health care.”