QARLive: Saturday Stew W/ Jason, Katie & Angie: Battle For Prolife Continues

WEST VIRGINIA BECOMES THE ELEVENTH STATE TO PROTECT PAIN-CAPABLE CHILDREN AS LEGISLATURE OVERRIDES GOVERNOR TOMBLIN’S VETO.

WASHINGTON – In a 27-5 vote, the West Virginia state Senate today joined with the state House of Delegates in voting to override Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HB 2568), legislation that protects unborn children from abortion at the point that they are able to feel pain. Tomblin's veto came after the state House of Delegates and the state Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill in February. The legislature’s successful override of Gov. Tomblin’s veto means that the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act will go into effect in 90 days.

Despite having passed the legislature last session, Governor Tomblin's first veto of this legislation came after the session ended, preventing an override vote.

“Medical science provides substantial compelling evidence that unborn children flinch away from painful stimuli, that their stress hormones increase when they are subjected to anything painful, and that they require anesthesia for fetal surgery,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee. “States have a compelling interest in protecting the lives of unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion. West Virginia becomes the eleventh state to recognize this obligation by enacting the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

The legislation is based on a National Right to Life model bill that is currently in effect in eight states across the country: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas.