Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 26, 1993                   TAG: 9308260030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Medium

JUDGE STOPS MEDICAID FROM PAYING FOR W.VA. ABORTIONS

Circuit Judge John Hey ruled that a provision of a $1.14 billion Medicaid funding bill that severely restricts state funding of abortions is "constitutional and enforceable."

"While an indigent woman may have a right to abort her fetus, she does not have the corresponding right to have that decision publicly funded," Hey wrote.

It will take 10 days to two weeks for the state Department of Health and Human Resources to notify doctors and Medicaid facilities of the change, said agency spokeswoman Ann Garcelon.

As a result, abortion funding can't cease immediately, despite Hey's order, Garcelon said.

Roger Forman, attorney for the Women's Health Center of West Virginia Inc., said he would petition the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to put Hey's order on hold while the ruling is appealed. He said the appeal might not be filed until next week.

Deputy Attorney General Deborah McHenry said the state also plans to appeal. She said the state has to provide abortions to poor women because its constitution guarantees "substantive rights to safety."

The law bars Medicaid-funded abortions unless two doctors say the abortion is necessary, the fetus is found to be in danger of dying or the woman is the victim of rape or incest.

Three women's groups - the Women's Health Center, West Virginia Free and the National Organization for Women - sued the Department of Health and Human Resources over the abortion restrictions.

They said the law discriminated against women who can't pay for abortions because other women who can afford abortions are still able to have them.

West Virginians for Life Inc., an anti-abortion group that helped defend the law, said the measure doesn't ban abortions, just the state funding of abortions.

"We are so grateful," said Becky Romero, vice president of West Virginia for Life. "We were always very hopeful because we had an excellent case in the court. Thirty-seven other states do not fund abortions on demand with their tax dollars."

Gov. Gaston Caperton signed the Medicaid law on June 4, although he opposed the abortion restrictions, saying he didn't want to threaten medical coverage for 350,000 poor West Virginians covered by the program.

He then filed suit seeking to overturn the abortion provision on grounds similar to those cited by the women's groups. But Hey ruled Caperton could not challenge the provision because he had signed the law.