The House of Delegates debated the
emotional subject of abortion for more than two hours Tuesday evening before
approving a bill that would prohibit abortions following 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Discussion of the fetal pain bill,
which passed 79-17, brought out personal stories, calls against the bill’s
constitutionality and predictions of political backlash.
The bill provides for an exemption
in case of medical emergencies but it also calls for prosecution of doctors who
perform abortions following the 20-week mark.
“This is unconstitutional, it is,”
Del. Don Perdue, D-Wayne, said. “On its face, its premise, the language, the
law, it’s unconstitutional.”
Supporters said there’s medical
evidence that unborn children at 20 weeks begin to feel pain.
“I will proudly see that vote as a
vote to prevent unborn children from feeling pain,” House Minority Leader Tim
Armstead, D-Kanawha, said.
Kanawha County Del. Meesha Poore
made the move to have the House clerk to read the bill in its entirety. She
later said in a nearly 40-minute floor speech that one thing the bill does is
tell doctors they don’t matter anymore in West Virginia
“We don’t care about your
expertise. We don’t care about you going to school. We don’t care about you
getting your different credits that you have to renew your license with, we’re
saying to you that if you make this decision for any one of your patients we’re
going to put you in jail,” Poore said.
The House may not have taken up the
bill this year had it not been for a move by Republicans during pro-life day to
bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Some Democrats, who are pro-life and
who voted against the move that day were criticized by pro-life groups. The
bill then quickly began moving through the committee process.
None of the bill’s sponsors spoke
in favor of the bill Tuesday evening.
The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration.
