Tag: Pain capable Unborn Child Protection Act

W.Va. Lawmakers Nix Veto, Put 20-Week Abortion Ban Into Law

West Virginia lawmakers have overridden a veto on a bill prohibiting abortion 20 weeks after conception.

The Senate’s 27-5 vote Friday cemented the ban into law. The House voted Wednesday. Overriding policy vetoes requires a simple majority.

Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed the bill Tuesday, citing constitutionality concerns.

Tomblin, an anti-abortion advocate, said the legislation is similar to what he vetoed last year.

The Republican Legislature passed it overwhelmingly this year. It passed easily last year under Democrats.

The ban provides some exemptions for women in medical emergencies, but not for rape and incest.

Proponents have cited moral grounds. Opponents say it’s unconstitutional and intrusive into doctor-patient relationships.

Both bills resemble a law struck down in Arizona in 2013 that the U.S. Supreme Court later decided not to reconsider.  

House Overrides Veto on Abortion Bill

For the first time in more than twenty years, members of the legislature are on their way to overturning a gubernatorial veto.

According to Speaker Tim Armstead’s office, the last time such a vote was taken was in 1987 under the late Governor Arch Moore.

The two thirds vote of both chambers overturned his decision on a portion of the 1988 budget, but lawmakers this year have a slightly different situation on their hands as they consider a vote to overturn the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Update March 4, 2015, 4:55 p.m.:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael said the Senate did not receive the House of Delegate’s message of a vote to override the governor’s veto before their morning floor session preventing them from taking up the bill Wednesday.

Carmichael said the chamber, however, is under no time crunch to reconsider House Bill 2568. Members of the Senate have until the final day of the session, March 14, to consider a veto override.  

Update March 4, 2015, 9:55 a.m.:

The House of Delegates voted 77-16 Wednesday to override Governor Tomblin’s veto of the pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Delegates Linda Longstreth, Tim Miley, Linda Phillips and Patsy Trecost–who had all originally voted in support of the bill–were among those who disapproved of the veto override.

In a news release Wednesday, House Speaker Tim Armstead called the override a “historic step” and noted that it was the first time the chamber has passed a veto override since 1987.

“I am confident that the Senate will follow suit and that this will be law of West Virginia. I believe that the Pain Capable Unborn Protection Act is constitutional and will withstand any constitutional challenge,” said Armstead.

The action will now be sent to the Senate. 

From Our Original Post

For the second time in as many years, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has vetoed a bill that would ban late-term abortions. Republican leaders in the House say they’re planning to override the measure.

In a news release Tuesday, Tomblin announced his veto of The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill would ban the practice 22 weeks after the mother’s last menstrual cycle, or 20 weeks post fertilization, the point at which supporters of the bill say the fetus can feel pain.

In Tomblin’s veto message to House Speaker Tim Armstead, he cites decisions from the United States Supreme Court in stating that the bill is unconstitutional.

Tomblin also issued a statement to the media.

“As reflected in my voting record during my time in the Legislature, I believe there is no greater gift of love than the gift of life. As governor, I must take into consideration a number of factors when reviewing legislation, including its constitutionality,” said Tomblin in Tuesday’s statement.

“At the start of the regular session, I urged members of the Legislature to consider a compromise that would help us establish legislation that would pass constitutional muster. Having received a substantially similar bill to the one vetoed last year on constitutional grounds, I must veto House Bill 2568.”

Democratic members of the Senate fought the bill on the floor last week, calling it unconstitutional and against the precedent set by the United State’s Supreme Court in 1973 with Roe v. Wade.

Tomblin vetoed a similar bill following the conclusion of last year’s session in a Democrat-led legislature. Tomblin refused to call a special session that would have allowed lawmakers to reconsider the bill.

According to the Associated Press, both bills resemble a law struck down in Arizona in 2013 that the U.S. Supreme Court later decided not to reconsider.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey expressed his disappointment in Tomblin’s veto and urged legislators to override it. He also promised to defend the bill if challenged in court.

“It is long-past time that limits are placed on abortions in West Virginia. Currently West Virginia law does not limit how late an abortion can occur,” said Morrisey in a statement issued Tuesday.

“While no one can predict with certainty how a court will rule, I believe that there are strong, good-faith arguments that this legislation is constitutional and should be upheld by the courts. If the Legislature overrides this veto and the law is challenged, I will defend it in court.”

Whitney Burdette of The Charleston Daily Mail reports that House leaders are already planning to override Tomblin’s veto of the bill.

Republicans now control the legislature. Only a simple majority is needed to override the governor’s veto.

‘Pain Capable’ Abortion Ban Bill in Gov. Tomblin’s Hands

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin will soon decide whether he’ll sign a bill banning late-term abortions in West Virginia. The bill was approved by the Senate Wednesday after being approved by the House of Delegates two weeks prior.

The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act bans the practice 22 weeks after the mother’s last menstrual cycle, or 20 weeks post fertilization, the point at which supporters of the bill say the fetus can feel pain.

Democratic members of the Senate fought the bill on the floor Wednesday evening, calling it unconstitutional.

“Since Rowe vs. Wade was handed down the Supreme Court has been very clear that states cannot prohibit abortions prior to viability,” Sen. Corey Palumbo said as he fought to have an amendment approved by his fellow members.

Palumbo’s amendment would have pushed the ban from 22 to 24 weeks or viability, the point at which most doctors agree a fetus can survive on its own outside the womb. His amendment failed.

Sen. Herb Snyder tried to add an exemption for victims of rape and incest. That amendment also failed.

The Senate approved the bill, 29 to 5, with Senators Facemire, Miller, Palumbo, Romano and Snyder, all Democrats, voting against it.

Tomblin has five days to sign or veto the legislation. He vetoed a similar bill during the 2014 legislative session, but it takes only a simple majority to overturn a veto.

Abortion Bill Heads to Governor Tomblin's Desk

At the legislature today, bad blood lingers in the Senate after yesterday’s action to move the charter schools bill to the floor.  In the House, the Government Organization committee hears an earful from Democrats about the bill to roll back the prevailing wage law.  And we’ll check in with the Our Children, Our Future campaign to see how their legislative priorities are doing at The Legislature Today.

Abortion Bill Debated Nearly Two Hours in the House

Delegates approved six pieces of legislation Wednesday including a Senate bill that allows emergency responders, doctors, and family members to administer a drug to reverse the effects of an overdose. But it was House Bill 2568, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that got the most discussion on the floor before it was ultimately approved.

Members of the House debated the 22-week abortion ban for nearly two hours on the House floor. Republican and Democratic members alike stood to back the bill including Delegate Lynne Arvon from Raleigh County.

“This is about protecting a five month old or above unborn baby from pain. Period. That’s what we’re discussing today,” Arvon said, “We’re not discussing whether we should have abortion or not. If this bill passes, abortions will be allowed up to five months for any reason. I don’t agree with that, but we have to start somewhere. And there is a debate about whether the baby experiences pain or not, but there’s not debate in my mind. I carried three children, I said that yesterday, I know they experience pain.”

Delegate Tom Fast of Fayette County said the government has a right to protect lives.

“The reason we have these laws is because government has a civil duty to protect human life,” Fast said, “I hear over and over and over again about a woman’s right to choose. We had a debate yesterday about rape and incest. I can be sympathetic with those situations, truly, they are bad situations, but you have to understand, we need to understand that Government has a duty to protect human life. The Scripture was quoted a minute ago. Where does that duty come from? That duty comes from Almighty God that gives individual rights, that gives family rights, that gives church rights, and it also gives rights and duties to civil government.”

Delegate Saira Blair of Berkeley County expressed concern for the fathers of unborn children.

“She has every right to visit her doctor and consult her doctor about what to do, she has every right to visit her minister and make decisions, but one thing that I’m really interested in today is that not once has she had the right to visit the father of the child either,” expressed Blair, “and I will never understand that, and I know that there are a lot of men in here right now who would like to stand up and say, well you know where’s my decision? But they can’t, and so I would like to stand up for them, because they would come off as selfish, but it’s not selfish, it’s just as much your decision. And I think this is the first step we can take to representing, not just the child, but the father of the child as well.”

Only Democratic Delegates stood to oppose the abortion ban, including Delegate Nancy Guthrie of Kanawha County. Guthrie said she supports funding for family planning and birth control to prevent future abortions.

“And finally, what I’m really for, and I pray that all of you gentlemen in this room, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, would start to campaign for mass production and use of male birth control,” Guthrie said, “because to be honest with you, I’m tired. Every single year, we have a bill like this that comes before us, and it’s never about you, it’s never about you, it’s always about us. Why don’t you be in charge of reproductive health for the next couple of decades?”

Delegate Dave Pethtel of Wetzel County said he stood with women and is against the bill.

“Ladies, I’m proud to stand with you today, in speaking and voting against this bill, because I believe that when a woman has to make one of the most difficult decisions in her life on whether or not to have an abortion,” noted Pethtel, “especially in high risk, complicated pregnancies, that decision should between her, her doctor, her family, and her God, not the Government. Never the Government. Because the law is that a woman does have the right to choose, and it’s really no one’s business.”

Delegate Linda Longstreth is a Democrat who stood to back the bill, but says she’s still concerned with some of its provisions.

“I asked yesterday and argued the point about rape and incest that seemed to be overlooked today for the fact that yes, there are young children who are raped, nine, ten years old with no support. Do you ask them to carry that child to complete term? And what do they do with that child? Will she make it that long without committing suicide?  We don’t know, that is not our choice to make, and that’s a very personal, very personal thing,” Longstreth said, “I’m going back to what I said yesterday about the United States, the House of Representatives. They will not pass this bill themselves until these exceptions are put in, because they found it too restrictive. I’m saying today, this is restrictive, vote your conscience.”

The bill was ultimately approved by lawmakers on a vote of 87 to 12. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Exit mobile version