West Virginia bans abortion
Republican governor signs prohibition for all stages of pregnancy, with brief windows for rape and incest
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Republican Gov. Jim Justice on Friday signed into law a ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, making West Virginia the second state to enact a law prohibiting the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling overturning its constitutional protection.
The ban is effective immediately, except for the criminal penalties, which take effect in 90 days, Justice said.
The governor described the measure on Twitter as “a bill that protects life.”
“I said from the beginning that if WV legislators brought me a bill that protected life and included reasonable and logical exceptions I would sign it, and that’s what I did today,” he said.
The ban has exemptions for medical emergencies and for rape and incest victims until eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and 14 weeks for children. Victims must report their assault to law enforcement 48 hours before the procedure. Minors can report to the police or to a doctor, who then must tell police.
The law requires these abortions to be performed by a physician at a hospital — a provision that at least two Republican lawmakers have acknowledged is intended to stop abortions at the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, which has provided the procedure since 1976 and was the state’s sole abortion clinic.
Providers who perform illegal abortions face up to 10 years in prison.
Shortly after lawmakers passed the bill on Tuesday, Women’s Health Center Executive Director Katie Quiñonez said the clinic’s lawyer advised them to suspend abortions immediately. Staff spent Tuesday night and Wednesday canceling dozens of appointments and providing patients with resources to book appointments out of state and funding to help cover expenses, including travel.
Indiana’s abortion ban — passed in August — started being enforced Thursday.
Indiana and West Virginia now join more than a dozen states with abortion bans, though most were approved ahead of time and set to take effect once the court threw out the constitutional right to end a pregnancy.
On Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a bill that would ban abortion nationwide after the 15th week of pregnancy with few exceptions, intensifying the ongoing debate inside and outside the Republican Party, though the proposal has almost no chance while Democrats hold Congress and the White House.