West Virginia Lawmakers Rush To Advance Abortion Bills As Session Nears End

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Lawmakers rushed to advance legislation restricting abortion access in West Virginia on Saturday as the Legislature convened for the last scheduled day of the 2022 session.

The Republican-majority House of Delegates overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill barring parents from seeking abortion care because they believe their child will be born with a disability. The bill provides exemptions in the case of a medical emergency or in cases where a fetus is "nonmedically viable."

"This is about science and morality," said Republican Del. Kayla Kessinger. "It's about, 'When does life begin?' and whether or not it has a value.'"

The Senate already passed the bill earlier this month, but the body will need to approve the House version Saturday before it can be sent to the governor's desk.

Another bill, which would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, was on the Senate calendar Saturday. The legislation is almost identical to the Mississippi law currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A similar bill was passed in Florida earlier this month, and other 15-week bans are advancing in states like Arizona and Kentucky.

The high court's ruling in the Mississippi abortion case could lead to the overturning of its landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

Current law in West Virginia prohibits abortions after 20 weeks. There is only one facility in the state that performs abortions, the Women's Health Center of West Virginia in Charleston.

During an hour-and-a-half debate on the bill dealing with disabilities and abortion, several Democrats voiced opposition. They included Del. Evan Hansen, who said the bill does nothing substantial to help people with disabilities and their families.

"This is an attempt to use people with disabilities as props for an anti-abortion agenda, something that the disability community has not asked for, as far as I know, and that's just wrong," Hansen said.

"This ban doesn't make our state a better place for any child with a disability," he continued. "But what it does do is it creates government overreach into personal family medical decisions."

That bill requires physicians to submit a report to the state for each abortion they perform and whether "the presence or presumed presence of any disability in the unborn human being had been detected."

The report would need to include the date of the abortion and the method used and also confirm that the doctor asked the patient whether abortion was being chosen because the baby could have a disability.

The reports would have to be submitted within 15 days of each abortion, according to the bill. Patients' names must be omitted.

A physician who violates the law could see their license to practice medicine suspended or revoked.

The 15-week abortion ban — which provides no exemptions for victims of rape or incest — passed the House in mid-February, then stalled in the Senate Health Committee for weeks before it was greenlit Friday with little discussion. The only major change to the bill would be to delay its enactment until March 15, 2023. The committee's attorney said that was to give U.S. Supreme Court time to make a decision in the Mississippi case.

Lawmakers decided to bypass a referral to the Judiciary Committee on Friday and send the bill straight to the Senate floor.

Legislators convened in a snowy state Capitol on Saturday with dozens of bills to finalize action on Saturday before sine die. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw arrived late to a debate on the state budget bill because he was delayed by a car accident on the roads, which were still being cleared.

After two hours of discussion on the House floor, lawmakers voted 90-9 to send a $4.635 billion budget to Republican Gov. Jim Justice's desk.

The bill includes 5% pay raises for state employees and teachers, with an additional bump for state troopers.

They also passed a bill decriminalizing fentanyl test strips, which can signal the presence of fentanyl in illicit drugs.

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