MORGANTOWN – The House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved a bill on Wednesday requiring medical providers to inform a woman undergoing a chemical abortion that it may be possible to halt the abortion.
HB 2982 is nicknamed the Second Chance at Life Act but the text of the legislation amends the Women’s Right to Know Act. It passed 83-15, with five Democrats crossing the aisle, and heads to the Senate.
The bill involves the procedure undertaken within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy using mifepristone – also known as RU-486 – followed by misoprostol, known by the brand name Cytotec.
The RU-486 pill blocks the hormone progesterone, Delegate Joe Ellington, R-Mercer and an OB/GYN physician, told members. Progesterone is necessary to continue the pregnancy. Cytotec is a stomach ulcer medicine with an off-label, non-FDA approved use for inducing labor or, in the case of an abortion, expelling the fetus.
Although this use is not FDA approved, Ellington said, it’s considered the standard of care for chemical abortions.
The bill says that after the RU-486 has been dispensed, the physician must provide written instructions telling the woman that if she changes her mind, it may be possible to avoid, cease or stop the pill’s intended effects if the second pill hasn’t been taken.
At any stage of the abortion, Ellington said, bleeding, hemorrhage, surgery and death are all possibilities.
The bill also says that before the abortion, the woman must certify in writing that she has been informed about the possibility of stopping the intended effects of the chemical abortion.
Several delegates argued against the bill. Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said the bill implies no trust for doctors to give correct information or for women to make their own decisions.
Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, said a recent Tennessee federal court case upheld a challenge to a similar law there. That law violated the First Amendment and compelled speech that is untrue or misleading. The court said the research suggesting the abortion can be reversed is flawed and the idea is only theoretical at this point.
Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, argued during debate on a failed amendment on Tuesday and again Wednesday, that the research project was halted early because about half of the 12 women involved experienced severe side effects by not taking the Cytotec, including hemorrhaging.
Fleischauer said she has qualms about compelling speech without also compelling disclosure of the possible side effects.
Ellington said again that bleeding and hemorrhaging are possible at any stage in the procedure.
Delegate Danielle Walker, also D-Monongalia, took a different approach, telling her colleagues she was a rape victim who had an abortion. People have called on her to repent on her position on abortion.
“You can pray for me but what you shouldn’t do is pass judgment on me,” she said. “I didn’t want to hear my rapist stripping my humanity as he forcefully, without consent, used and abused my body. He killed my confidence, my choice and my consent … He is the villain.”
Bill supporters argued that the bill simply provides for informed consent.
All local delegates voted with their party.
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