Legislature 2008: Abortion

This session's top abortion-related measure is likely a bill "that would limit the amount of Medicaid dollars the state spends on the procedure to those cases in which the federal government requires it," The Associated Press reports.

AP's Tom Breen talked to bill supporters as well as to opponents who "point to the state’s steadily declining abortion rate as evidence that new legislation isn’t required to reduce the number of abortions in West Virginia."

Breen also checked in with state Medicaid officials, who estimate that abortion procedures cost the program $228,000 during the budget year that ended Jun 30. "That number will likely increase, though, as doctors have up to a year to bill Medicaid for services," the article said.