CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved a pro-life supported bill Wednesday that opponents argue is unnecessary.
The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, HB 4007, would require medical personnel to give life-sustaining measures to any baby that’s breathing following an abortion procedure.
The House approved the bill 93-5 but not before nearly a dozen delegates spoke for or against the proposal. The opponents said the bill is unnecessary and political with the primary election just months away.
“This bill does absolutely nothing,” Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, said. “It proposes to make something illegal that is already illegal.”
Doyle ended up voting in favor of the bill. Delegate Sammi Brown, D-Jefferson, did not. She told fellow House members they need to seriously consider a few questions.
“Are we going to be a body that is complicit to creating law based on political statements? Propaganda? Mis-truths?”
Delegate Kayla Kessinger, R-Fayette, denied the claims the bill was political.
“I would hope that every single person in this room would agree that when a baby takes his first breath, when his heart is beating outside of the womb that life is present,” Kessinger said. “For me this isn’t a political game for me this is about life and protecting the rights of an individual just like me, just like you.”
The bill’s sponsor, Del. Ruth Rowan, R-Hampshire, said the bill makes her think about her now 15-year-old grandson who was born prematurely.
“He was one pound five ounces when he was born and he wanted to live,” Rowan said. “His eyes were sealed shut just like a newborn kitten’s eyes and he was a fighter, he wanted to live.”
Four of the five votes against the bill came from delegates from Monongalia County including Barbara Fleischauer, Evan Hanson, Rodney Pyles and Danielle Walker.
The bill now moves on to the state Senate.