CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill banning abortions after 20 weeks is up for passage stage Wednesday in the West Virginia House of Delegates, the same day as a pro-life rally at the Capitol. HB 2568, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, advanced to third reading Tuesday after attempts to amend the bill failed overwhelmingly.
The bill states that a child in the womb can feel pain at 20 weeks and no abortion can be performed after that threshold except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger or there is a serious health risk to the woman.
The House defeated several proposed amendments, including one that would have provided an exemption in cases of rape or incest and another that shifted the 20 week limitation to 24 weeks, closer to the stage of viability as recognized by the medical community.
Both chambers passed a similar bill last year, but Governor Tomblin vetoed it, questioning its constitutionality and citing concerns over how it could interfere with a woman and her doctor.
Those concerns were echoed Tuesday on the House floor by Delegate Barbara Fleischauer (D-Monongalia County), who referenced information provided by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “That national organization opposes the bill because it’s not backed by good science,” Fleischauer said.
However, pro-life supporters disagree. Dr. Wanda Franz, president of West Virginians for Life, argues that new research shows that babies can feel intense pain as early as 20 weeks. “West Virginians for Life recognizes the need to act to protect unborn babies from the pain of abortion.”
Franz and other West Virginians for Life supporters will rally at the Capitol Wednesday in support of the bill.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 10 states currently prohibit abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization or its equivalent of 22 weeks after the woman’s last menstrual period “on the grounds the fetus can feel pain at that point in gestation.” West Virginia is one of just eight states with no prohibition on abortions after a certain point in the pregnancy