CHARLESTON — The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a nearly total ban on abortion in West Virginia on Wednesday after a contentious debate on the floor, a protest outside the House chamber, and a public hearing that brought out more than 100 of supporters and opponents.

The House passed House Bill 302, clarifying West Virginia’s abortion laws, in a 69-23 vote Wednesday afternoon with 11 members absent after Gov. Jim Justice added the topic of abortion law updates to the special session proclamation Monday.

HB 302 would ban all abortions beginning at fertilization, except for medical emergencies, a non-medically viable fetus and in the instance of a pregnancy when a fetus develops outside the uterus.

A narrow majority approved an amendment to HB 302 that also added limited abortion exceptions for sexual assault and incest. Del. John Hardy, R-Berkeley, offered the amendment, which was adopted in a 46-43 vote with 11 members absent. According to the vote totals, 18 Democrats crossed the aisle, giving 28 out of the 78-member Republican caucus the votes needed for the amendment to pass.

Hardy’s amendment would allow abortion to occur in instances of sexual assault or incest as long as it occurs no later than the 14th week of gestational period. The amendment also requires a report be made to a qualified law enforcement officer prior to an abortion being performed.

“The reason why this lays on my heart is we give women options,” Hardy said. “I’m as pro-life as anyone in here is, but I believe we need to offer these options to our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, and our nieces. There has to be some type of option if someone is raped and sexually assaulted.”

Debate on the Hardy amendment divided members of the Republican House caucus, with some rising to express support for Hardy’s position while others gave impassioned speeches for why they believe it is wrong to terminate any pregnancy.

“There are a number of us in here that have little girls or have little granddaughters and I think about those girls,” said Del. John Kelly, R-Wood, in support of the amendment. “I don’t believe in abortion. I really don’t, but I believe in taking care of my children, my grandchildren. I love them and I’m not going to put them through that.”

“I have to be for this exception, because I don’t like innocent people being sent through without some option available,” said Del. Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock. “The innocent deserve options like other people.”

“If you institute an exception right now, you will continue to deal with this again and again and again and again,” said Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, urging members to vote against the Hardy amendment. “I value life. I value the life of every single unborn child, even if it were wrought and brought about in such travesty and heartbreak as a sexual assault. That is a phoenix rising from the ashes.”

Democratic House members offered multiple amendments to HB 302, all of which failed. One of those amendments was a broad exception for instances of rape and incest.

“I want you to think about the girls in your life, the women in your life, and I want you to think about the other children in West Virginia,” said Del. Lisa Zukoff, D-Marshall, who co-sponsored the failed amendment. “In this case, if a woman decides not to have her rapist’s child, if a girl and her family thinks it is not in her best interests and her doctor to have the rapist’s child, she should have the choice to do that.”

“Do you want to side with child rape victims or child rapists? Think about that,” said House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio. “The fact that we even have to decide that is appalling.”

Earlier Wednesday, 90 people signed up to speak in a public hearing regarding HB 302. Opponents of the bill outnumbered supporters by nearly two-thirds during the public hearing, with speakers only being allowed 45 seconds to make their case for or against the bill.

The condensed time limit caused some speakers to continue speaking past the time limit, causing the microphone to be cut and for House Sergeant-at-Arms to escort speakers away from the podium, including Katie Quinonez, executive director of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia – the state’s only abortion clinic based in Charleston.

“This ban has nothing to do with life. It has nothing to do with health. It has nothing to do with family. This is about control,” Quinonez said. “This abortion ban is at its core a decision deeply rooted in sexism and racism and the role women and people who can become pregnant play in our society … it will have an enormous impact on every aspect of their life, health, and wellbeing, and it will have especially significant effects on pregnant people in marginalized communities …”

Karen Cross, political director for National Right to Life, spoke of having an abortion performed before her senior year of high school. Three months later she was pregnant again with her daughter, but she decided to keep the pregnancy.

“I was in the same circumstances; nothing changed. The only thing that changed was my determination to give her life. She’s now the mother of my grandson and my pride and joy,” Cross said. “We pro-lifers are the true feminists here. We believe in women. We believe so much in women – that women are competent, that women are so strong and amazing – that we don’t have to kill our children to succeed in life.”

HB 302 was sent to the state Senate, where a majority of Senators decided not to send the bill to a committee and it was read a first time. The bill will be on second reading and amendment stage today.