West Virginia passed a near-total abortion ban on Tuesday during a special session of the Republican-majority legislature amid protests around the state Senate against the bill.
The law prohibits the procedure unless the woman “has a medical condition that requires an abortion to prevent death or to avoid serious risks of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of an important bodily function.” This point must be determined “on the basis of reasonable medical judgment”.
The project also provides exceptions for cases of rape and incest, provided that the victim reports the crime to the competent authorities. However, they can only miscarry before eight weeks of pregnancy, or 14 weeks for people under the age of 18.
The law will go into effect as soon as Governor Jim Justice, also a Republican, signs the bill.
Doctors who violate the law can lose their medical license, but will not face criminal penalties. Anyone who performs an abortion who is not a licensed physician and has the privileges of hospitalization is charged with felony and up to five years in prison.
Because it’s important? As the Supreme Court ended the federal abortion right in June, so-called “activation laws” passed before the ruling went into effect and restricted the procedure.
- West Virginia is the second state in the country, after Indiana, to pass a ban after the Supreme Court ruling. Other states have tried, but their efforts have failed or stalled.
- Indiana lawmakers in early August banned abortion from the moment of conception, except in some cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities, or when the pregnant woman faces death or some serious health risks.
An uphill law. Governor Justice called West Virginia lawmakers to a special session in July to consider procedural restrictions.
- Abortion remained legal in this state until the 20th week after a judge blocked a 19th-century ban, which was passed before the ruling. Roe vs Wade was imposed.
- Although lawmakers approved an initial version in the state House of Representatives, the bill stalled in the Senate after a failure to agree on criminal penalties for doctors who practice illegal abortions.
- Criminal sanctions were discussed as they could dissuade doctors, particularly midwives, from practicing medicine in West Virginia, a state considered a “maternity wasteland,” due to a shortage of doctors.
- The two chambers finally reached common ground more than a month later and passed the bill on Tuesday, with no criminal penalties for doctors.
Main news source: The Washington Post
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