Published: January 24, 2008 11:09 pm         

Pro-life group seeks to limit tax-paid abortions

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Taxpayers in West Virginia shelled out $347,900 two years ago in Medicaid money to finance abortions, an outlay a pro-life group is determined to dramatically reduce.

In its only legislative endeavor in this session, West Virginians for Life is pushing a bill that would shut off Medicaid dollars for abortions, except for the only reasons mandated by federal rules — rape, incest and endangerment to the life of the pregnant woman.

Just how much of a decrease is difficult to say, says Melissa Adkins, head of the Morgantown-based anti-abortion group.

“We don’t know because right now, the state is not keeping records on how many are for rape, incest and the life of the mother,” Adkins said.

“In fact, we asked that question when we filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the numbers. We asked how many are performed for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and they had no idea. They don’t keep those records.”

Adkins says the absence of such information tells that the three required avenues for payment of abortions are so minuscule “that it’s just not worth tracking.”

“The vast majority of them are elective abortions that are not medically necessary,” she said.

Abortion is on the decline in West Virginia, according to the Guttmacher Institute, cited in a report this week by The Associated Press. The wire service reported the state’s rate fell to 6.7 per 100,000 women ages 14 to 55 from 6.8.

Adkins attributed the dip to the efforts of her organization in each legislative session.

“The reason the number is coming down is because we’re passing bills like the woman’s right to know bill,” she said.

Nationally, the rate is falling as well, but again, she credited the passage of “protective legislation” such as parents’ right to know and the limit on Medicaid funding.

“We need to make sure that number doesn’t increase and we do that by passing pro-life legislation,” Adkins said.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, is the lead sponsor of the Medicaid proposal in the Senate, where pro-life legislation typically passes with few opposition votes.

“The House is always a challenge,” Adkins acknowledged. “But this is an enormously popular piece of legislation. Polls nationwide show that anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of Americans favor legislation that limits tax-funded abortions.”



Mannix Porterfield writes for The Register-Herald in Beckley, W.Va.