Published: March 23, 2009 08:54 pm      

Groups square off over WVa abortion bill

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Opponents of a bill to limit public funding of abortions in West Virginia outnumbered supporters 3-to-1 Monday at a state Capitol hearing and warned that passage of the measure would likely trigger a wave of litigation.



Margaret Chapman, executive director of the pro-abortion rights group WV FREE, argued that the bill was unconstitutional on the basis of a 1993 state Supreme Court decision.



Representatives of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and others opposed to the bill, also testified at Monday's public hearing.



"I can almost guarantee (litigation) would ensue," said Franklin Crabtree, executive director of the state ACLU chapter.



The bill would prohibit Medicaid funding for abortions except in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in danger — although some foes worry it would also apply to non-Medicaid public funding sources, such as the state Public Employees Insurance Agency.



A similar measure failed to make it to the floor of the House of Delegates last year, but anti-abortion groups are energetically pushing the latest measure through intricate legislative obstacles.



Unlike last year's bill, this measure is not scheduled to come before the House Judiciary Committee, which has been a major hurdle for bills limiting abortion. Monday's hearing was held before the House Finance Committee.



Despite its numerous allies in the Legislature, West Virginians For Life — the state's most politically powerful anti-abortion group — has not scored a major legislative victory since 2005 and has dedicated resources to the latest effort.



Brian Louk, the group's executive director, said at the hearing that the great majority of West Virginians are opposed to abortion, a theme taken up by other abortion foes Monday.



"Tax money is our money and you as legislators are here to represent the people," said Paul Ronk, a minister at King's Way Christian Church in Nitro. "I could bet my life on it that if you put it to vote to every resident in the state it would be 80 percent or more for this bill."



Ronk was not the only member of the clergy to testify, but he was outnumbered by Christian pastors speaking in opposition to the bill, arguing it would discriminate against poor women.



"It would not only be illegal, but people would really suffer, particularly poor people," said the Rev. Jim Lewis, an Episcopalian priest in Charleston.



Speakers on both sides tried to reframe the discussion as being about something other than abortion. Foes of the bill cast it in terms of medical care for the poor.



"I know we don't all feel the same way about abortion, and that's OK, but what we're talking about today is the importance of protecting every woman's health, including poor women," Chapman said.



Some supporters of the bill, though, argued it was a straightforward matter of budgetary discretion.



"I do not want my tax money to go towards abortion," Wheeling resident David Millhouse said.