CHARLESTON -- The latest figures show a sizable rise in the number of abortions performed in West Virginia, and that could increase the issue's profile in the upcoming general election.

The Department of Health and Human Resources counted 2,037 induced abortions in 2006, the latest year for solid numbers. That's nearly 22 percent more than were reported in 2005.

The rise still leaves West Virginia with one of the lowest abortion rates in the country. The 2006 figure represented about 8.7 percent of pregnancy outcomes in the state for that year.

Initial numbers for 2007 suggest a decline, though not below 2005's level. The 2006 figure, however, also represents a slight blip in what has been a marked decline in abortions performed in the state since the late 1990s.

"The data is more realistic if you look at it over a 10-year period, because the numbers really are so small," said Nancy Tolliver, director of the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership. "The data, I don't think, is necessarily significantly going to tell us that we're having a trend."

But the figures have also been seized upon by Russ Weeks, the Republican nominee for governor, in a race where both he and incumbent Gov. Joe Manchin are considered anti-abortion.

"He's done nothing," Weeks said of Manchin, a Democrat elected in 2004. "It's just the typical politician paying every group lip service and saying, 'I'm going to be everything to everybody."'

Manchin says his record opposing abortion speaks for itself. Consistently endorsed by West Virginians for Life, Manchin supported the anti-abortion group's agenda while a state legislator.

Upon taking office in 2005, he signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which the group pushed in 2004 but was vetoed by his Democratic predecessor.

"I've always been a supporter of right to life," Manchin said. "I was raised that way."

Weeks cites the failure of anti-abortion legislation to reach the governor's desk since 2005. The law signed that year, which treats the unborn as separate victims in most crimes of violence, did not directly address abortion.

"If he were not just paying lip service, he would have put pressure on that situation," Weeks said. "The governor has influence direct and indirect over just about everything going through the Legislature."

Manchin disputed that. He also turned down Weeks' call to include abortion on the agenda of the special legislative session slated to follow Tuesday's wrap-up of monthly interim meetings.

Weeks sought to revive a measure that would limit the Medicaid funding of abortions. The federal government requires states to provide funding for abortions in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered. Seventeen states, including West Virginia, provide broader funding for abortions sought by women eligible for Medicaid, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"The regular session is the place for those kinds of policy discussions," Manchin said, adding that he believes the abortion issue in general "should not be made a political football."

Manchin said he's asked the health department for details about the recent increase in abortions, while Weeks said he did not blame any specific state policy for the increase. Weeks instead suggested a combination of factors, including advertising by Planned Parenthood.

Tolliver cited the availability of medications that induce abortions, as an alternative to a surgical procedure. She also referred to the health department's annual survey that "pretty consistently" finds that about 42 percent of women who give birth in the state considered their pregnancies unintended.

About 90 percent of the reported 2006 procedures involved West Virginia residents. A third involved women aged 20-24, about the same as in 2005. Another 15.7 percent involved teens in 2006, a 2.7 percent drop for that age group from the previous year.

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Lawrence Messina covers the statehouse for The Associated Press.