West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has made a name for himself by fighting against overreach by federal agencies that try to sidestep Congress. He seems to have forgotten that in his quest to enforce a 173-year-old abortion law, rather than wait for the state legislature to act.

Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Tera L. Salango issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which makes performing an abortion a felony, saying laws passed by our legislature “hopelessly conflict with the criminal abortion ban.”

Morrisey remains impatient, however.

“This is a dark day for West Virginia,” he said.

Morrisey’s ideology and emotions are leading him to forget the importance of getting the job done properly — much as he accused federal Environmental Protection Agency officials of doing in the way they dealt with coal-fired power plants.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor on that count, Morrisey crowed that it was “a very important victory for separation of powers, for the rule of law,” and said he hoped it would ensure “overreaching government knows it has limits.”

Indeed.

Legislative leadership was right to bristle at Morrisey’s rush to weigh in on the abortion matter.

“We will put in the time and the work we need to do to make sure we arrive at the proper place. We must have a legally sound, fully defensible law. We are already working to craft legislation that reflects the pro-life position of this House and is consistent with the Dobbs opinion. If action on our part is required, we will take it, and we will take it in the time and manner of our choosing, not of others,” said House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.

Good. Morrisey might want a return to the legal norms of the mid-1800s, but he would better serve West Virginia by getting out of the way and letting lawmakers do their jobs — passing a law suited to the 21st century.