Senate Bill No. 326
(By Senators Anderson, Sharpe, Prezioso, Boley, Ross, Sprouse,
Dittmar, Ball, Minear, McKenzie, Helmick, Kimble, Buckalew,
Schoonover, Dugan, Deem, Bowman, Chafin, Bailey, Plymale, Scott,
Wiedebusch, Love and Oliverio)
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[Introduced March 13, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article two-i, relating to
banning partial birth abortions; definitions; prohibition of
partial birth abortions; life of the mother exception; civil
remedies; and criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article two-i, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2I. PROHIBITION AGAINST PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION.
§16-2I-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Partial-birth abortion" means an abortion in which the
person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a
living human fetus before killing the infant and completing the
delivery.
(b) "Fetus" and "infant" are used interchangeably to refer to
the biological offspring of human parents.
§16-2I-2. Prohibition of partial-birth abortions.
No person may knowingly perform a partial-birth abortion.
§16-2I-3. Life of the mother exception.
Section two does not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is
necessary to save the life of a mother because her life is
endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness or physical
injury, including a life-endangering condition caused by or
arising from, the pregnancy itself:
Provided, That no other
reasonably accessible and safe medical procedure exists as an
alternative to a partial-birth abortion for the purpose of saving
a mother's life.
§16-2I-4. Civil remedies.
(a) The woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion has been
performed in violation of section two, the father of the fetus or
infant, and the maternal grandparents of the fetus or infant, if
the mother has not attained the age of eighteen years at the time
of the abortion, may obtain appropriate relief in a civil action,
unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal
conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion.
(b) Relief provided for in this section includes:
(1) Compensatory damages for all injuries, psychological and
physical, occasioned by the violation of this act;
(2) Statutory damages equal to three times the cost of the
partial-birth abortion; and
(3) If judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiff in an
action authorized by this section, the court shall also render
judgment for a reasonable attorney's fee in favor of the
plaintiff. If the judgment is rendered in favor of the defendant
and the court finds that the plaintiff's suit was frivolous and
brought in bad faith, the court shall award a reasonable
attorney's fee in favor of the defendant.
§16-2I-5. Penalty.
(a) If a person performs a partial-birth abortion, in knowing
or reckless violation of this article, the person is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof,shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or incarcerated in a correctional facility
for one to ten years, or both fined and incarcerated.
(b) A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed
may not be prosecuted for a violation of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to ban partial-birth
abortions unless the mother's life is in jeopardy. The bill
provides for civil and criminal penalties.
Article two-i is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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