A West Virginia House committee has advanced legislation that would allow state-funded pregnancy support programs to cover expenses associated with abortion pill reversal, a technique to help save the babies of women who regret taking the abortion pill.
The House Committee on Health and Human Resources advanced Senate Bill 805, which amends the West Virginia Mothers and Babies Pregnancy Support Program.
The program provides funding to pregnancy help organizations across the state and would now permit expenditures for “abortion pill reversal,” defined as “the use of progesterone by a licensed health care provider for the purposes of counteracting the effects of ingested mifepristone as part of a chemical abortion.”
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The bill passed the Senate on March 4 in a 31-1 vote, with two senators absent. It is sponsored by Republican state Sen. Brian Helton.
“So we’re not taking away anything that’s currently available under our law,” said Republican state Sen. Brian Helton, SB 805’s Senate sponsor. “What we are doing is adding another choice to women and in my opinion giving a lot better medical care throughout this process.”
The program dispensed $3 million to pregnancy centers last year and will spend $4 million in fiscal year 2027. The legislation does not provide funding to abortion centers.
