Gov. Jim Justice (R) of West Virginia signed a law that bans abortions on Friday, allowing the operation only in situations of rape, incest, or life-threatening medical conditions, The Hill reports.
The law is a “bill that protects life,” Justice wrote in a tweet publicizing his signing.
“I said from the beginning that if WV legislators brought me a bill that protected life and included reasonable and logical exceptions I would sign it, and that’s what I did today,” Sen. Justice said, as quoted by The Hill.
The law was passed by the state’s legislature on Tuesday, with the state House supporting it 77-17 and the state Senate passing it 22-7. The statute takes effect immediately when Justice signs it, but its criminal consequences don’t take effect for 90 days.
The procedure must be performed no later than the eighth week of pregnancy, the patient must be a victim of rape or incest, they must have contacted a law enforcement agency, and abortion is completely prohibited by law. If they notify the authorities and obtain care from a qualified expert or hospital, minors in either of those situations are permitted to have an abortion up to 14 weeks into the pregnancy.
Additionally, abortions are permitted in “medical emergencies” and when the fetus is not otherwise viable.
Licensed practitioners who are discovered to have unlawfully conducted an abortion risk losing their medical license but are not susceptible to jail. If anybody is discovered to have performed an abortion without a license, such as a nurse, they might be charged with a crime and sentenced to three to ten years in jail, commencing in 90 days.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in June to reverse Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed abortion rights nationwide, West Virginia is the second state to pass an abortion ban. The restriction, which became effective on Thursday, was approved by Indiana’s Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, last month.
Following the Roe decision’s reversal, “trigger bans” that severely restricted access to abortions were put into place in more than a dozen states.
State legislators aimed to supersede a preliminary order issued by a court in July that had previously invalidated West Virginia’s 150-year-old abortion prohibition. The statute that took effect on Friday did just that.
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