West Virginia is moving forward with a ban on midterm abortions that has gained traction around the country.
On Tuesday Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed the ban, which would prohibit most abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy. But now the state’s Republican-led legislature is likely to override the veto with a simple majority vote.
If that happens, West Virginia would become the first state this year to approve the measure, which is based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain halfway through a pregnancy. About a dozen states have passed such laws over the last few years. The South Carolina House recently passed a 20-week ban.
Tomblin, who has said in the past that he opposes legal abortion, said he vetoed the bill because he has concerns about its constitutionality.
“As reflected in my voting record during my time in the legislature, I believe there is no greater gift than the gift of live,” he said. “As governor, I must take into consideration a number of factors when reviewing legislation, including its constitutionality.”
The Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group that has championed the legislation both in states and in Washington, predicted Tomblin’s veto soon will be “rectified” by the legislature.
“Once again Gov. Tomblin hypocritically referred to ‘no greater gift of love than the gift of life’ while vetoing a modest measure to protect babies capable of feeling the intense pain of death by late-term abortion after five months … that’s more than halfway through pregnancy,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
But abortion rights advocates applauded Tomblin’s move.”The governor has recognized that politicians aren’t medical experts, and they shouldn’t be interfering in the decision a woman has made with her doctor and family,” said Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project.
Anti-abortion activists were disappointed earlier this year when the House canceled a vote on a similar measure that would have nationally banned post-20-week abortions in most circumstances, over disagreements about how to provide exemptions. Republican leaders haven’t said when they will bring up the bill again.
