Abortion in West Virginia is illegal, with few exceptions.[1]

The number of clinics in West Virginia has declined steeply from the original nineteen over the years, with ten in 1982, five in 1992, two in 2014, and one in 2017. There were 1,730 legal abortions in 2014, and 1,516 in 2015.

On September 13, 2022, West Virginia passed a near-total abortion ban in both houses of its legislature. Governor Jim Justice signed the bill into law on September 16, 2022.[2]

The near-total ban on abortions is currently being challenged in court.[3]

Legislative and judicial history

West Virginia's primary abortion statute is a holdover from a Virginia law passed in 1848.[4] The statute reads:

Any person who shall administer to, or cause to be taken by, a woman, any drug or other thing, or use any means, with intent to destroy her unborn child, or to produce abortion or miscarriage, and shall thereby destroy such child, or produce such abortion or miscarriage, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than three nor more than ten years; and if such woman die by reason of such abortion performed upon her, such person shall be guilty of murder. No person, by reason of any act mentioned in this section, shall be punishable where such act is done in good faith, with the intention of saving the life of such woman or child.

— West Virginia Code, § 61-2-8[5]

In Roe v. Wade (1973,) the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.[6] (However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) later in 2022.[7][8]) Following this, the above statute was declared unconstitutional by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Doe v. Charleston Area Medical Center (1975).[9]

The West Virginia Legislature passed the Women's Right To Know Act in 2002, requiring abortion providers to read a counselling script to women seeking an abortion.[10] These materials include details on fetal development by week and a list of "psychological risks" of the procedure, including guilt, depression, suicidal thoughts or acts, and "chronic relationship problems".[11] Earlier editions of the script labelled the psychological risks as "post-traumatic stress disorder", in addition to containing scientifically unsupported warnings about a link between abortion and breast cancer.[12][13][14]

In March 2015, the West Virginia legislature overrode a veto from governor Earl Ray Tomblin to pass "The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act", outlawing abortions more than 20 weeks into a pregnancy.[15][16]

West Virginia requires parental consent for a minor to receive an abortion. Historically, this could be avoided by a waiver from a physician; in 2017, HB2002 was enacted, requiring the physician's waiver to also be approved by a judge.[10][17]

On September 13, 2022, West Virginia passed a near-total abortion ban in both houses of its legislature. Governor Jim Justice signed the bill into law on September 16, 2022.[2]

Clinic history

Number of abortion clinics in West Virginia by year

The Women's Health Center of West Virginia opened in 1976.[10] Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state declined by five, going from ten in 1982 to five in 1992.[18] In 1998, 96% of the counties in the state lacked an abortion clinic.[18]

In 2014, there were two abortion clinics in the state.[19] In 2014, 98% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 90% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.[20] In 2017, only about 20% of all patients at the Women's Health Center of West Virginia went seeking abortion services. Women came from Ohio and Kentucky to utilize their services. Few came from Virginia, which had more clinics providing abortion services.[10] In 2017, there was only one Planned Parenthood clinic in a state with a population of 392,351 women aged 15–49 and it did not provide abortion services.[21] North Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia were the only six states as of July 21, 2017, not to have a Planned Parenthood clinic that offered abortion services.[21] In January 2017, Kanawha Surgicenter shut down after the doctor running the clinic moved to California, leaving the state with only one operating abortion clinic.[10] In May 2019, the state was one of six states in the nation with only one abortion clinic.[22]

Statistics

In the period between 1972 and 1974, there were zero recorded illegal abortion deaths in the state.[23] In 1990, 179,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy.[18] In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 230 abortions, 40 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 0 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 0 abortions for women of all other races.[24] In 2014, only 35% of West Virginians in a poll approved of legalized abortion in most or all situations.[25] In 2016, only four minors had abortions that bypassed parental consent by getting a waiver.[10] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births.[26]

Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996[27]
Census division and stateNumberRate % change 1992–1996
199219951996199219951996
South Atlantic269,200261,990263,60025.924.624.7–5
Delaware5,7305,7904,09035.234.424.1–32
District of Columbia21,32021,09020,790138.4151.7154.512
Florida84,68087,50094,0503030327
Georgia39,68036,94037,3202421.221.1–12
Maryland31,26030,52031,31026.425.626.30
North Carolina36,18034,60033,55022.42120.2–10
South Carolina12,19011,0209,94014.212.911.6–19
Virginia35,02031,48029,94022.72018.9–16
West Virginia3,1403,0502,6107.77.66.6–14
Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of residence and occurrence and by percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates
LocationResidenceOccurrence % obtained by

out-of-state residents

 YearRef
No.Rate^Ratio^^No.Rate^Ratio^^
West Virginia1,8845.6931,7305.18513.22014[28]
West Virginia1,7365.2881,5164.57712.72015[29]
West Virginia 1,637 5.0 86 1,428 4.4 75 12.0 2016 [30]
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births

Public opinion

As of 2014, 35% of citizens in West Virginia state that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 58% say it should be illegal in most or all cases.[31] As of 2022, 40% of citizens in West Virginia state that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 55% say it should be illegal in most or all cases.[32]

Abortion financing

Since 2018 West Virginia covers abortion only in case of rape, incest, or life endangerment.[33] Before 2018 West Virginia used their own funds to cover all or most "medically necessary" abortions sought by low-income women under Medicaid.[34] In 2010, the state had 1,111 publicly funded abortions, of which all were state funded and none were federally funded.[35]

Abortion rights views and activities

Protests

Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "West Virginia governor signs bill into law banning abortion with few exceptions".
  2. 1 2 "West Virginia lawmakers OK abortion ban with few exceptions". POLITICO. Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  3. ↑ "West Virginia abortion provider files challenge to near-total abortion ban". February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. ↑ Acts passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Vols. For have title:Acts passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1847/1848 ed.). Richmond, Virginia. 1776. p. 96.
  5. ↑ "§61-2-8. Abortion; penalty". West Virginia Code. West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  6. ↑ Buell, Samuel (1991-01-01). "Criminal Abortion Revisited". New York University Law Review. 66 (6): 1774–1831. PMID 11652642.
  7. ↑ de Vogue, Arinne (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade". CNN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  8. ↑ Howe, Amy (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion". SCOTUSblog. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  9. ↑ Linton, Paul Benjamin (2007). "The Legal Status of Abortion in the States if Roe v. Wade is Overruled". Issues in Law & Medicine. 23 (1): 3–43. PMID 17703698. ProQuest 215290187.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McCann, Allison (May 23, 2017). "Seven states have only one remaining abortion clinic. We talked to the people keeping them open". Vice News. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Women's Right to Know Home Page". West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  12. ↑ Women's Right to Know Home Page, archived from the original on April 20, 2008, retrieved February 27, 2021
  13. ↑ "Do abortions cause breast cancer? Kansas State House Abortion Act invokes shaky science for political gain". Slate Magazine. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "Misinformed Consent: The Medical Accuracy of State-Developed Abortion Counseling Materials". 25 October 2006.
  15. 1 2 Bacon, John. "Abortion rights supporters' voices thunder at #StopTheBans rallies across the nation". USA Today. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  16. ↑ Sullivan, Peter (2015-03-06). "West Virginia overrides veto to ban abortions after 20 weeks". The Hill. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  17. ↑ "Parental notification of abortions performed on unaccompanied minors". Article 2F, of May 8, 2017. West Virginia Legislature.
  18. 1 2 3 Arndorfer, Elizabeth; Michael, Jodi; Moskowitz, Laura; Grant, Juli A.; Siebel, Liza (December 1998). A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights. Diane Publishing. ISBN 9780788174810.
  19. ↑ Gould, Rebecca Harrington, Skye. "The number of abortion clinics in the US has plunged in the last decade — here's how many are in each state". Business Insider. Retrieved May 23, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ Panetta, Grace; lee, Samantha (2018-08-04). "This is what could happen if Roe v. Wade fell". Business Insider (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  21. 1 2 "Here's Where Women Have Less Access to Planned Parenthood". Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  22. ↑ Holly Yan (29 May 2019). "These 6 states have only 1 abortion clinic left. Missouri could become the first with zero". CNN. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  23. ↑ Cates, Willard; Rochat, Roger (March 1976). "Illegal Abortions in the United States: 1972–1974". Family Planning Perspectives. 8 (2): 86–92. doi:10.2307/2133995. JSTOR 2133995. PMID 1269687.
  24. ↑ "No. of abortions among women aged 15–19, by state of residence, 2013 by racial group". Guttmacher Data Center. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  25. ↑ Yaver, Miranda (March 27, 2017). "States with more Planned Parenthood clinics have fewer teen births and sexually transmitted diseases". Washington Post.
  26. ↑ "States pushing abortion bans have highest infant mortality rates". NBC News. 24 May 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  27. ↑ Henshaw, Stanley K. (2005-06-15). "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States, 1995-1996". Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 30: 263–270. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  28. ↑ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2017). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2014". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 66 (24): 1–48. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6624a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 29166366.
  29. ↑ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2018). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2015". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 67 (13): 1–45. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6713a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 30462632.
  30. ↑ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2019). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2016". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 68 (11): 1–41. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6811a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 31774741.
  31. ↑ "Views about abortion by state". Pew Research Center. 2014.
  32. ↑ Cohn, Nate (2022-05-04). "Do Americans Support Abortion Rights? Depends on the State". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  33. ↑ "Agency over healthcare for poor already adjusting to WV abortion amendment". 12 November 2018.
  34. ↑ Francis Roberta W. "Frequently Asked Questions". Equal Rights Amendment. Alice Paul Institute. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  35. ↑ "Guttmacher Data Center". data.guttmacher.org. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
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