State senators signed off on a bill that would prohibit prescribing or sending abortion causing medication to people in West Virginia.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 173 Friday with a vote of 31 to 1 and two members absent.
With narrow exceptions, abortion has been illegal in West Virginia since 2022. Abortion by telemedicine is also illegal. Senate Bill 173 seeks to close what lawmakers say is a loophole in the state’s abortion ban — out-of-state organizations and prescribers who would send abortion pills to people in the state.
The Senate judiciary and health committees heard testimony from a representative of the anti-abortion group Students for Life who said that a website sent him abortion pills in the mail without medical screening, age verification or consultation with a medical professional.
Lead bill sponsor Sen. Chris Rose, R-Monongalia, said the bill would let “bad actors” know the state won’t tolerate those who disregard the sanctity of life that the Legislature has preserved.
“We will fight from the womb to the tomb to preserve every human being,” Rose said. “And we will defend the constitutional rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness even for the unborn.”
Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, said the bill is an answer to those who would try to “thwart” the state’s abortion ban.
“I realize that there are people that have differing opinions on this, but I’m for the babies to be born. I’m for the mothers to be taken care of,” Roberts said. “I’m for the pro-life movement… I think it’s sad that we have to come up with legislation like this and put some teeth in it, but it is where we are, because we have people shifting, mailing these pills in and that’s thwarting our law, so now we will respond in kind.”
The bill would make it a felony punishable by 3 to 10 years in prison for non-medical professionals to send abortifacients by mail to a person in West Virginia. A medical professional would lose their license for illegally prescribing the medication to a person in West Virginia.
The bill has an exception for physicians providing the drugs for a “legitimate medical reason” if it results in the accidental death or injury to the fetus.
Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion — the only no vote on the bill — said West Virginia already has laws and regulations that can respond to “rogue” online pharmacies sending drugs to West Virginia.
During the Senate health committee discussion of the bill, West Virginia OB-GYN Dr. Nicole Perry-Bryce testified that abortion medication is safe and effective and saves lives. Laws like Senate Bill 173 make it harder for West Virginia to recruit physicians because they risk their license when prescribing an abortifacient, she said.
Mifepristone and misoprostol are commonly used in combination during a medication abortion, but the drugs have other uses.
Garcia said the state’s health care deserts — areas of the state with a lack of health care providers — are not an accident, but a result of the Legislature’s actions. He called SB 173 an overreach.
“Not only are politicians trying to get into the medical offices and hospitals of the people in the state of West Virginia, but now we’re trying to over reach into other states,” Garcia said. “Going into Ohio and New York because anybody under this law who wants to leave this state and go to a place where abortion is legal, and they go and get prescribed a medication, the abortifacients that we have in the bill and they come back to the state of West Virginia, this bill is an attempt to try to go into those rooms and take away the license, to sue, to do whatever we can and actually put people in jail for practicing medicine to the standard of care.”
Lawmakers on Friday approved an amendment to the bill from Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, that would require the state attorney general’s office to report to lawmakers yearly the number of lawsuits filed on behalf of women who use the drugs and what action the state took in those cases. Tarr said reporting the number would pressure the attorney general to take legal action in the case.
Lawmakers also approved amendments from Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, that would prohibit the state from contracting with manufacturers or wholesale distributors that send abortifacients into West Virginia and another amendment that would allow women to sue those who send abortifacients in the circuit court of the county where they receive the drugs, not only the county where the abortion took place.
This is at least the second year in a row a bill restricting the sending of abortion pills has passed the Senate. Last year’s bill, Senate Bill 85, did not make it through the House of Delegates in time to complete legislation.
It’s unclear whether the state will be able to enforce the measure — should the bill become law — with providers and entities outside the state. Several states that allow abortion have passed “shield laws” that ban them from cooperating in another state’s investigation into violations of their abortion bans.
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and the reproductive rights organization WV Free oppose Senate Bill 173.
The bill is supported by the organization Students for Life, which celebrated its passage in a news release Friday.
“Innovation at the state level proves that elections matter, and we applaud those legislators who prioritized protecting women from abusers and injury, and we ask the state house to do the same,” SFL Action President Kristan Hawkins said in the news release.
The bill will next go to the House of Delegates for consideration.
This article originally appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
