Once again, West Virginia lawmakers have listened to the voice of West Virginians, and the pulse of Americans nationwide, by overwhelmingly supporting – and passing, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This is a common sense measure intended to protect unborn children capable of feeling pain from being tortured via abortion.

A recent article states:

“By a vote of 29-5, the West Virginia state Senate today gave final approval to HB 2568, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – a bill that protects unborn children from violent abortions after the point at which they are capable of feeling pain. The state House of Delegates passed the bill 88-12 on February 11, which included the support of two-thirds of the House Democrats.”

It’s no secret that West Virginians are pro-life and want to see life defended. That fact makes it surprising that we are one of just 9 states that has no abortion laws on the books. In other words, a woman can abort her unborn child for any reason up to the moment of birth in West Virginia with no questions asked. That is an injustice that cannot continue.

When this bill was passed last year, our “pro-life” governor, Earl Ray Tomblin, vetoed it saying his legal team didn’t believe it was constitutional. Apparently the governor’s legal team is unaware that such laws exist in nearly a dozen other states and several have already withstood judicial challenge.

See the chart below to find out which states have 20 week abortion bans.

It could be that perhaps Gov. Tomblin vetoed the bill in order to satisfy his allies, you know, the people that support his campaigns and political career (read: give him money). I can think of no logical, good reason to veto this bill other than caving to political pressure.

Del. David Perry (D) was the one that reintroduced the bill and has already said that he believes there is enough votes to override a governor’s veto. I sincerely hope he is right. I also hope that West Virginian’s will let their voices be heard. We need to tell the governor to sign this bill and make sure he knows how much we – his constituents – support it.

You can contact the governor by clicking here. You can contact members of the West Virginia Legislature by clicking here.

It’s time for the laws of West Virginia to reflect the will and wishes of the people. We are a pro-life state by an overwhelming majority – as evidenced by the number of Democrats that supported HB 2568 last year and this year. Life is not a partisan issue, it’s a civil rights, justice, biblical, moral issue. We cannot, as a nation or a state, hope to be blessed if we refuse to protect the most innocent and defenseless among us.