CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly Wednesday morning to override Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
On a 77-16 vote, the House voted to override the veto “not withstanding the objections of the governor.”
The bill (HB2568), also called the fetal pain bill, would make abortions illegal after 20 weeks of pregnancy with a few exceptions based on medical emergencies. The governor expressed concern about the constitutionality of the bill. Supporters said the language has not been declared unconstitutional in other states.
In introducing the override vote, House Majority Leader Daryl Cowles (R-Morgan) made the tongue in cheek comment the vote was just a “run of the mill” override vote. It was the first vote to override a governor’s veto since 1987 when the legislature overturned then-Gov. Arch Moore’s veto of the budget bill.
Gov. Tomblin vetoed a similar pro-life supported bill last year but the legislature was already finished with its 60-day session and could not act on the veto. The new Republican-led legislature got the bill to the governor this year to give it enough time to override if necessary.
The votes for passage were 29-5 in the Senate on Feb. 25 and 82-12 in the House of Delegates on Feb. 11.
The state Senate had two floor sessions scheduled for Wednesday and was expected to take up the override vote in one of those sessions.