West Virginia governor signs bill severely limiting abortion access

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed an abortion ban into legislation on Friday that can solely allow the process in instances of rape, incest or medical emergencies. 

Justice mentioned in a tweet asserting his signature that the laws is a “invoice that protects life.” 

“I mentioned from the start that if WV legislators introduced me a invoice that protected life and included affordable and logical exceptions I’d signal it, and that’s what I did immediately,” he mentioned. 

Each homes of the state’s legislature accredited the ban on Tuesday, with the state Senate passing it 22-7 and the state Home passing it 77-17. With Justice’s signature, the legislation goes into impact instantly whereas its prison penalties will go into impact in 90 days. 

The legislation bans abortion fully except the affected person is a sufferer of rape or incest, has knowledgeable a legislation enforcement company and receives the process no later than the eighth week of being pregnant. Minors in both of these circumstances can obtain an abortion as much as 14 weeks of being pregnant in the event that they report it to legislation enforcement and obtain remedy from a licensed skilled or hospital. 

Abortions are additionally allowed for “medical emergencies” and if the fetus just isn’t medically viable. 

Licensed suppliers who’re discovered to have illegally carried out an abortion should not topic to imprisonment however may lose their medical license. If anybody who just isn’t licensed to carry out an abortion, equivalent to nurses, is discovered to have performed so, they may face felony costs and three to 10 years in jail, beginning in 90 days. 

West Virginia is the second state to signal into legislation an abortion ban following the Supreme Courtroom’s June ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion rights nationally. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) final month signed into legislation a ban that went into impact Thursday. 

Greater than a dozen states had “set off bans” go into impact as soon as Roe was overturned that severely restricted abortion entry. 

A choose had beforehand blocked West Virginia’s 150-year-old abortion ban in a preliminary injunction in July, so state lawmakers had been in search of to supersede that with the laws that went into impact Friday.