Pennsylvania Senate lawmakers on Monday introduced a constitutional amendment that would prevent abortion activists from forcing the state to legalize abortions up to birth and for taxpayers to pay for them.
The Daily Item reports that the state Senate voted 29-20 Monday afternoon to advance the amendment (Senate Law 956). If it passes the legislature and voters approve it on the ballot, the edit would add language to the Pennsylvania Constitution, which states there is no right to abortion or taxpayer funding for abortion.
“My constitutional amendment would ensure that elected representatives are the ones who determine abortion policy, not the activist judges,” said Sen. Judy Ward, R-Hollidaysburg, the lead sponsor. “When it comes to protecting the life of the unborn and protecting the health of women, we must keep the legislature in the hands of the people’s representatives.”
Leading state pro-life organizations have expressed an urgent need to pass the amendment over a lawsuit filed by pro-abortion groups.
Tom Shaheen, president of policy at the Pennsylvania Family Institute, said the state’s Supreme Court is currently considering the abortion lawsuit, and the ruling could be disastrous for the unborn and all residents of Pennsylvania.
“Today, Pennsylvania faces its greatest threat to unborn children and their mothers since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973,” Shaheen wrote in an email to supporters last week. “To put it bluntly, Pennsylvania is at risk of becoming a state like New York that allows abortions up to birth – and paid for by the taxpayers.”
The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, which also supports the amendment, said the lawsuit could force state taxpayers to pay for killing unborn babies in elective abortions and repeal the state’s parental consent law, Which requires underage girls to have parental consent. For an abortion.
It could also repeal the state ban on late-term abortions and end informed consent requirements, the pro-life organization says on its website.
“We would also lose regular inspections of abortion centers, meaning hairdressing and nail salons are viewed more critically than abortion centers,” the organization continued.
The amendment would keep these laws in place and allow state lawmakers to pass other protections for mothers and unborn babies, especially if the US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this summer.
ACTION: Contact Pennsylvania state senators to support this pro-life bill.
To amend Pennsylvania’s Constitution, the amendment language must be passed twice by the state house and Senate and then approved by a majority of voters on the ballot.
“We are living in a historic moment in the pro-life movement as Roe v Wade can finally be thrown onto the ash heap of history,” Shaheen said. “But our future here in Pennsylvania could be worse than under Roe if we don’t stop Planned Parenthood and pass the Life amendment.”
In several states, courts have established a so-called “right to abortion” in their state constitutions. The rulings have been used to compel taxpayers to fund abortions and prevent state legislatures from enacting even minor, common-sense abortion restrictions.
In 2018, voters in West Virginia passed a constitutional amendment that is pro-life after decades of being forced by a court order to fund elective abortions with their taxpayers’ money.
Kansas voters will consider a similar pro-life amendment to their state constitution in August. In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court found a so-called “right to abortion” in their state constitution, a ruling that jeopardizes laws protecting women and babies.
ACTION: Contact Pennsylvania state senators to support this pro-life bill.