West Virginia lawmakers introduce 15-week abortion ban

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban abortion after 15 weeks — a proposal nearly identical to the Mississippi law currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

As the nation waits for the court to make a decision later this year in the abortion case that could overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, at least two states — West Virginia and Florida — have introduced bills mirroring Mississippi's.

Both the Florida and West Virginia bills would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality. Neither would provide exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

Republican Del. Ruth Rowan, lead sponsor of the West Virginia bill, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that West Virginia has an obligation to protect the unborn as “a Christian state where people care about their families and their children.”

Rowan carries two wallet-sized photos around with her in the Capitol: One is of her 17-year-old grandson, a junior at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind; the other shows him in a hospital incubator when he was born early — at 28 weeks.

When Rowan's daughter was pregnant, she said, doctors told her daughter the pregnancy would be risky and gave her some options. Among them, they said, she could end her pregnancy. Rowan said the choice was clear. Years later, the family is grateful she decided to keep him.

“He’s our miracle. He’s why I’m so committed to what I’m doing right now,” Rowan said, speaking through tears during an interview on the House floor. “Life is precious, and we need to respect that.”

Rowan said adoption is always an option for women who don't want to be parents, saying “God has a reason for all of our children."

Like Mississippi, there is...