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CHARLESTON, WV, March 3, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the second time in two years, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has vetoed a bill to prevent abortions from being performed on babies who are capable of feeling pain – and cited his belief in “the gift of life” in the process.

The West Virginia Democrat vetoed the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.B. 2568), which passed both Republican-controlled chambers of the state legislature by wide margins.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards denounced the bill as “cruel and dangerous.” The ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project applauded the veto, as did the state pro-abortion lobby group WV FREE.

“These cruel and dangerous measures are part of a broader effort to completely ban safe and legal abortion, and they are deeply unpopular with the majority of Americans,” said Richards.

Polls, however, show a whopping majority of Americans favor restrictions on late-term abortion. A Quinnipiac poll last November found 60 percent of Americans favor pain capable abortion restrictions, with young people and women polling more likely to favor the 20-week abortion ban. Nonetheless, Richards promised that Planned Parenthood will “continue to fight these attacks” on third-trimester abortion, “no matter what.”

Gov. Tomblin has struggled to maintain his image as a moderate Democrat in an increasingly Republican-leaning state, a tension reflected in his veto message, which proclaims the glories of life while vetoing pro-life legislation.

“As reflected in my voting record during my time in the legislature, I believe there is no greater gift of love than the gift of life,” he said. “As governor, I must take into consideration a number of factors when reviewing legislation, including its constitutionality.”

Tomblin made essentially the same statement last March, hailing the “gift of life” before vetoing a ban on performing abortions on babies capable of feeling pain.

That message earned him a place in history. According to NARAL Pro-Choice America, “In 2014, West Virginia’s governor, Ray Tomblin (D), became the first (and only) state executive to veto a ban” on abortion after 20 weeks.

At the time, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser called the governor's statement “high-profile hypocrisy.”

“Shame on Governor Tomblin for turning his back on unborn children and women by vetoing a compassionate, common sense limit passed with overwhelming bipartisan support,” she said.

This year, Gov. Tomblin said he urged legislators “to consider a compromise that would help us establish legislation that would pass constitutional muster,” but they passed a “substantially similar bill.” A ban on abortion after 20 weeks, Democrats state, could violate the Supreme Court's 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, which set the time for abortion restrictions at viability, which is ruled began at 24 weeks.

House Majority Whip John O’Neal IV, R-Raleigh, said the legislature could vote to override his veto as early as today. He and the state's top lawyer said the 20-week ban would clear any legal hurdles.

“This bill, specifically with the language that we used, has not been declared unconstitutional anywhere,” O'Neal told a local newscaster. Ten other states have passed such bills, and the pro-life protections are currently in effect in eight states.

“While no one can predict with certainty how a court will rule, I believe that there are strong, good-faith arguments that this legislation is constitutional and should be upheld by the courts,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said today. “If the legislature overrides this veto and the law is challenged, I will defend it in court.”

National pro-life leaders, who have made a 20-week ban on the grounds of fetal pain their top legislative goal, have watched West Virginia closely. Last month, Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., National Right to Life director of state legislation, called Tomblin's threatened veto a “travesty.”

“Now West Virginians must rise up and tell the governor, 'No more. No longer will our state tolerate the brutal and painful killing of unborn children,'” she said.