House Minority Leader Tim Armstead lamenting the vote at the WVFL Rally shortly after the discharge motion failed 48-48.
The leadership of the West Virginia House of Delegates failed to protect unborn babies from suffering excruciating pain during abortions here in the state of West Virginia. They voted against an opportunity to act on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the House chamber on Tuesday, February 11.
Minority Leader Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha) made the motion to Discharge the Committee and bring the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to the floor of the House. The vote to Discharge the Committee failed 48 to 48. The vote was along party lines with the Republicans voting for the bill and two Democrats crossing over to vote for it: Delegates Jeff Eldridge (D-Lincoln) and Ricky Moye (D-Raleigh). The vote occurred while the galleries were packed full of hundreds of members of West Virginians for Life, who were there for their Annual Pro-Life Rally and Day at the Legislature.
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would protect unborn children from abortion after 20 weeks, based on scientific evidence that the baby can experience great pain by that point. “Sadly, we have not acted here in West Virginia to protect our babies from the pain of abortion,” said Wanda Franz, President of WVFL. The bill has passed in ten states and in the U.S. House of Representatives. All three members of the West Virginia delegation voted in favor of it.
John Carey, Legislative Coordinator for WVFL, said, “It is a shame that not one other Democrat was willing to vote to save the lives of babies, who continue to suffer here in West Virginia.”