Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, which had been the state’s last abortion clinic, has filed a federal lawsuit over the ban passed last fall.
The plaintiffs are asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to issue an injunction to block the entire ban while the full case is considered by the court. The suit contends West Virginia’s law is irrational and unconstitutional.
“Every person deserves to access the critical care they need, but this law pushes essential abortion care out of reach,” said Katie Quiñonez, Women’s Health Center of West Virginia executive director.
“With each day this ban remains in effect, we are forced to turn patients away because politicians took away their power to make the best medical decisions for themselves during pregnancy.”
West Virginia lawmakers took up the debate after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the landmark Roe vs. Wade federal guarantee of abortion and sent policy decisions back to states.
The bill passed by lawmakers last September would not allow for abortion at any time during pregnancy, except for in some limited circumstances. In recent years, West Virginia law had allowed abortion up to 20 weeks of gestation.
The new law allows exceptions for a nonmedically viable fetus, an ectopic pregnancy, which is when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus, or a medical emergency. There are also narrow exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
If a licensed medical provider performs or induces an abortion, the law calls for the provider to file a report within 15 days with the commissioner of the Bureau of Public Health.
The version that passed would put the licenses of medical providers at risk if the boards that oversee their professions conclude that they’ve gone beyond the boundaries of the law. People who aren’t licensed to provide abortions could still face criminal penalties if they attempt the procedure.
The lawsuit was filed against officers of the West Virginia Board of Medicine because they have the capacity to sign complaints against physicians who perform abortions.
The suit focuses on elements of West Virginia’s law specifying that abortions that are performed must be by a licensed medical provider who has hospital privileges.
“HB 302’s requirement that all procedural abortions be provided in a hospital is unheard of in modern medicine,” the lawsuit states.
And, “likewise, HB 302’s requirement that any physician who provides abortion care have hospital privileges at a West Virginia hospital is patently illogical.”
The lawsuit contends Women’s Health Center of West Virginia and the doctor working there can no longer provide abortions because of the restrictions.
“For the reasons set forth above, HB 302’s Care Restrictions are out of touch with modern medicine, lack any rational justification, and are not logically connected to any legitimate government interest and are therefore unconstitutional,” the lawsuit states.
As the lawsuit notes, West Virginia’s law has a severability clause stating that if any provision is found to be unconstitutional then the entire law is deemed to be unconstitutional and West Virginia’s older laws would return to being in effect.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, said his office is ready to defend the new law.
“We are ready to defend West Virginia’s abortion law to the fullest. This law reflects the will of the majority of the citizens of the state as relayed by their elected representatives in the State Legislature,” Morrisey stated.
“I will stand strong for the life of the unborn and will not relent in our defense of this clearly constitutional law.”
