Topline
It’s now unlawful in nearly all situations to get an abortion in West Virginia, as Gov. Jim Justice (R) mentioned Friday he had signed the state’s near-total ban on the process into regulation, making West Virginia now the second state to enact a brand new abortion ban after the Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his annual State of the State handle in Charleston, West … [+]
Key Info
Justice said Friday he had signed Home Invoice 302 into regulation, which took impact instantly upon his signature.
The bill prohibits all abortions besides within the circumstances of nonmedically viable fetuses, ectopic pregnancies and medical emergencies, in addition to rape and incest as much as 14 weeks right into a being pregnant.
HB 302 makes performing an abortion in violation of the regulation a felony punishable by between three and 10 years of jail time, and suppliers will be convicted of homicide if the particular person getting the abortion dies because of the process.
Physicians may lose their medical license in the event that they violate the regulation, although the regulation doesn’t impose any penalties on the individuals who get abortions.
The state legislature passed the ban this week after beforehand coming to an deadlock on the laws earlier in the summertime, and the state’s solely abortion clinic stopped performing the process on Wednesday in anticipation of the invoice being signed into regulation.
West Virginia beforehand outlawed abortion proper after Roe v. Wade was overturned, because the state’s ban from earlier than Roe was determined went again into impact, however a state court docket then blocked that regulation, prompting lawmakers to contemplate new restrictions.
Essential Quote
“I mentioned from the start that if [West Virginia] legislators introduced me a invoice that protected life and included affordable and logical exceptions I might signal it, and that is what I did at the moment,” Justice said Friday.
Chief Critic
“This whole abortion ban is devastating however sadly comes as no shock,” Girls’s Well being Middle of West Virginia, the state’s sole abortion clinic, mentioned in a statement after the invoice handed. “Inserting politicians into medical selections that ought to be made between a affected person and their clinician instantly conflicts with our state motto of “Mountaineers are all the time free.”
Key Background
West Virginia’s abortion ban comes in the future after Indiana’s near-total ban on the process took effect on Thursday, which marked the primary new abortion ban to be enacted after the Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade. Lawmakers have unexpectedly struggled to enact stringent abortion restrictions within the wake of the Supreme Court docket overturning Roe v. Wade, given the actual fact People are broadly in assist of abortion remaining authorized. Payments handed to this point have maintained exemptions for rape and incest, and the debate over whether or not these ought to be included has divided Republicans, with some anti-abortion rights advocates believing bans with exceptions don’t go far sufficient whereas others gained’t assist bans with out the carveouts. An effort to cross a near-total ban on abortion in South Carolina failed earlier this month after there wasn’t sufficient assist amongst Republicans to cross a invoice with out rape and incest exemptions, and lawmakers ended up solely strengthening the state’s current six-week ban. Polling exhibits that even residents of states the place abortion is banned largely oppose the process being outlawed, and a few GOP candidates have backed down from robust anti-abortion rights positions in latest weeks forward of the midterms.
Additional Studying
West Virginia Passes Strict Abortion Ban (New York Occasions)
As 3 Extra Abortion Set off Bans Take Impact, Right here’s The place Legal guidelines Are Being Enforced — And The place They’ve Been Blocked (Forbes)
