The legislation would protect the unborn from the point of conception.
QUICK FACTS:
- The West Virginia State House Health and Human Resources Committee enacted an abortion ban just hours into the extraordinary session.
- The bill works to protect children from abortions beginning at conception and only allows them in situations when the mother’s life is in jeopardy or the infant is severely deformed.
- The committee voted 16-6 for the bill, which is now headed to the House Judiciary Committee for a Wednesday hearing.
- Ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages are not considered abortions and are covered under the legislation, according to the measure.
- The bill also puts in place a 48-hour waiting period and parental notification for the very rare instances abortion is allowed under the law.
GOVERNOR’S PUSH FOR THE NEW BILL:
- “From the moment the Supreme Court announced their decision in Dobbs, I said that I would not hesitate to call a Special Session once I heard from our Legislative leaders that they had done their due diligence and were ready to act,” West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said in a statement. “As I have said many times, I very proudly stand for life and I believe that every human life is a miracle worth protecting.”
- Gov. Justice went on to say he hopes the legislature will produce a pro-life bill to “ensure a coherent, comprehensive framework governing abortions and attendant family services and support to expecting mothers to provide the citizens of this State more certainty in the application of such laws.”
BACKGROUND:
- West Virginia’s previous abortion ban is currently tied up in the courts, allegedly due to a lack of clarity.
- Judge Tera Salango issued a temporary injunction following a hearing that lasted about an hour on the law and blocked the abortion ban after a single abortion company filed suit.
- State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has said he will go to court to fight the decision, calling it a “dark day for West Virginia.”
- Currently, as many as 26 states could immediately or quickly ban abortions to protect unborn babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years following the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
