The GOP-led Legislature passed House Bill 302 in a special session on Tuesday, making West Virginia the second state to pass a restrictive abortion bill after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
The ban will take effect immediately, and the bill’s criminal penalties will take effect in 90 days.
HB 302 allows exceptions for cases of rape or incest up to eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and the first 14 weeks of pregnancy for minors. The incident must be reported to the police at least 48 hours before the abortion.
It also allows exceptions if the embryo or fetus is non-viable, there is a medical emergency or an ectopic pregnancy, a rare event in which the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus and cannot survive.
“I’ve done exactly what I said I was going to do: I’ve signed it,” Justice, a Republican, said at a news conference Friday morning.
Justice said he is “proud to have signed it and I believe wholeheartedly that it does something that is absolutely so important: it protects life.”
HB 302 had stalled in July when lawmakers failed to reach a consensus on key details of the bill. This week, when the legislature returned, abortion rights advocates criticized lawmakers for voting to ban abortion “after weeks of closed-door discussions.”
Since July, abortion has been legal in West Virginia up to 20 weeks into pregnancy, after a state court judge said he had decided to block a state abortion ban that dates back to the 19th century.
The judiciary that month called lawmakers into a special session and, at the last minute, added abortion to the legislative agenda.
“I said over and over again that I am strongly pro-life,” Justice said Friday. “But I also said that we have to have reasonable, reasonable, logical exceptions.”
“And I really think there are reasonable, logical exceptions that got us there. Now, with all of that, this is such a volatile, volatile bill. There are people going, on both sides, who probably won’t get it all what they wanted,” he said.
A person other than a licensed medical professional who performs an abortion in violation of the law would be subject to a felony and up to 10 years in prison.
According to the law, miscarriages, stillbirths, in vitro fertilization and medical treatments that result in the accidental or unintentional death of a fetus are not considered abortions. The law does not prevent the sale and use of contraceptives. Abortion providers must report abortions and must notify the parents of a minor before performing an abortion.
It defines medical emergencies as a “condition or circumstance that so complicates a patient’s medical condition that an abortion is required to prevent a serious risk of the patient’s death or a serious risk of substantial physical impairment that threatens the life of a bodily function important, not including psychological or emotional conditions.”
Alisa Clements, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, argued that the law “will be deadly for the people of our state.”
“The limited exceptions in this bill are so limited and so narrow that it will make it extremely difficult for people in vulnerable situations, including minors and survivors of sexual assault, to get the care they need,” Clements said. in a statement.
This story has been updated with additional reactions and background information.