West Virginia Legislators Propose Nearly Three Dozen Abortion-Related Bills

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 23 Feb 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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There are 35 abortion-related bills pending in the West Virginia Legislature, according to the Legislature's Web site, the Charleston Daily Mail reports. Lawmakers said that the number of bills is not atypical compared with other years and that many of the measures have been introduced before. One bill (H.B. 2302) would prohibit abortions performed solely on the basis of the fetus' gender although neither the co-sponsor of the bill in the House nor the sponsor of the bill's counterpart in the Senate(S.B. 138)could identify any case of a gender-based abortion performed in West Virginia or the U.S. Barnes said, "I can't really say that it happens, but what we're saying is it's not supposed to happen."

Other bills that include restrictions and requirements regarding abortion include: S.B. 76, which would prohibit state funding of abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to a woman's life; S.B. 135, which would require some medical facilities to administer anesthesia to fetuses beginning at seven weeks' gestation; H.B. 2035, which would require medical facilities to give a pregnancy test and confirm results of the test before performing an abortion; S.B. 33 and H.B. 2073, which would require parental notification for an abortion performed on a minor; H.B. 2094, which would prohibit a higher education employee from assisting or counseling a student to obtain an abortion; and S.B. 38 and H.B. 2303, which would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions used to induce abortions. Another bill (H.B. 2238) would provide women who have been raped with information about pregnancy, emergency contraception and abortion, according to the Daily Mail. State Rep. Bobbie Hatfield (D) -- co-sponsor of the bill and vice chair of the House Health and Human Resources Committee -- said that time constraints and the volume of abortion-related bills prevent many of these bills from moving beyond committees. She said that instead of "putting the emphasis on the abortion bills," the Legislature should focus on measures to prevent unintended pregnancies (Saxton, Charleston Daily Mail, 2/18).

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