Even though abortion is almost completely banned in West Virginia and only a tiny number were performed last year, lawmakers continue to push for laws dissuading people from having the procedure.
In 2022, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, legislators passed a law banning abortion with narrow exceptions. Those include if a condition makes the fetus incompatible with life, a medical emergency exists or the pregnancy is the result of a reported rape or incest. Doctors performed thirteen abortions in the state last year, according to a legislative attorney.
The House will soon consider SB 352, a bill that would require the handful of West Virginians who are eligible for an abortion to be told the probable age of the fetus, risks and benefits of the procedure, “reasonable alternatives” and that they can view an ultrasound.
“Why are they still inserting themselves into the procedure?” said Margaret Chapman Pomponio, executive director of the abortion rights advocacy group WV Free. “The only logical conclusion can be that they don’t want abortion for any reason, they do not believe it is health care and they are still obsessed with it.”
On Tuesday, the House Health and Human Resources Committee advanced the bill to the floor after removing provisions of the law requiring doctors to provide information on the unproven theory that medication abortion can be reversed and on perinatal hospice. It has already passed the Senate.
“It’s just like checking off boxes because you really have to run an abortion bill every year,” said Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, during the health committee meeting.
Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, the bill’s lead sponsor, said lawmakers had inadvertently removed the requirements that doctors deliver this information, which were in place when abortion was legal, when they passed the 2022 ban.
“It’s up to the woman or the girl to decide whether she wants any of that,” she said.
But abortion rights advocates and doctors say the requirements are harmful and may be even more damaging for those facing health emergencies and traumatic experiences.
Prior to the ban, health care providers were required to inform patients of adoption options, the need to determine how far along the pregnancy is, various rare health and emotional risks of abortion and pregnancy and see fetal drawings.
But there is no evidence an abortion causes psychological harm, and most result in relief and happiness. Medical research shows abortion is one of the safest medical procedures and childbirth is more dangerous.
Dr. Sarah Dotson, an obstetrician-gynecologist, said the requirements may be offensive or traumatizing to patients who are already in emergency situations or who may have wanted to be pregnant but have a fetus that is incompatible with life.
She said conversations between doctors and their patients include careful discussion of risks, benefits and alternatives appropriate to each individual’s situation.
She added that hearing about adoption from a blanket script isn’t helpful for a patient who could die without an abortion or who is carrying a fetus that did not develop a brain.
“We don’t need help from politicians to engage in ethically sound shared decision-making with our patients,” she said.
Also despite the abortion ban, lawmakers are pushing two other pieces of abortion legislation, including SB 468, requiring an anti-abortion group’s video to be shown in eighth and tenth grade classrooms, and SB 620, expanding ways crisis pregnancy centers can use state funding.
After $1 million in funding for crisis pregnancy centers last year, Gov. Jim Justice has proposed millions more this year.
“We are enabling these pregnancy help organizations to link arms with these women, babies and families, to help them in their time of need and their time of crisis,” said Jenny Entsminger, executive director of the West Virginia Pregnancy Center Coalition. She said the state money helps people buy formula, diapers and baby clothing, as well as obtain ultrasounds and housing.
But Chapman Pomponio, of WV Free, takes issue with state money going to anti-abortion, faith-based organizations that aren’t medical providers and pressure people to remain pregnant.