The Pennsylvania State Capitol is seen in Harrisburg. The Supreme Court’s historic decision Friday to overturn nearly 50 years of precedent protecting the right to an abortion put a new focus on Pennsylvania’s upcoming statewide elections.
And a look at where key lawmakers, candidates stand
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The Supreme Court’s historic decision Friday to overturn nearly 50 years of precedent protecting the right to an abortion put a new focus on Pennsylvania’s upcoming statewide elections.
Abortions in Pennsylvania remain legal and will stay legal in the state through the end of Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf’s term in December 2022. A woman can get an abortion in the state up to 24 weeks of a pregnancy, according to regulations in Pennsylvania’s 1,200-page Abortion Control Act. State House Republican leaders said in a statement Friday that discussions to change the state’s abortion law are “already under way.”
The future of abortion access in the state’s GOP-controlled General Assembly is likely to fall to whoever holds the governor’s veto pen. And in a 50-50-split U.S. Senate, whoever is chosen by voters in November to replace Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in Washington will likely have a major say on whether abortion rights are codified.
Wolf, in a statement Friday, said he “cannot stress enough how important” the next election is for the commonwealth.
Here’s a look at how Pennsylvania’s candidates for U.S. Senate and governor responded to Friday’s ruling, and their public stances on abortion.
Governor
Republican nominee state Sen. Doug Mastriano, made a post on his Facebook shortly after the decision was dropped, “Life wins!”
A few hours later, Mastriano’s campaign released a statement that said Roe v. Wade was “rightly relegated to the ash heap of history.” He then quickly turned to criticize Democrats for inflation and high gas prices as the issues “people care deeply about.”
Mastriano has boasted of himself as a pro-life candidate. He previously sponsored legislation to ban abortions at six weeks in a pregnancy, and said he believes life begins at conception. He does not support any exception to this ban, including for life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.
But at a press conference in Binghamton, New York, with Rudy Giuliani and his son, New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani, Mastriano made no mention of Friday’s ruling. Instead, he discussed the state’s fracking success, and his hopes to work with Andrew Giuliani on energy production projects if they’re both elected to the governorship.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the state’s Democratic nominee, vowed in a statement released Friday to veto “any bill that restricts a woman’s right to choose” if elected governor. He’s consistently made this public promise.
Shapiro’s campaign has worked to make abortion the top issue of the November election. He began highlighting Mastriano’s stance on abortion before he won the May primary, hoping to compete against a more extreme candidate.
Shapiro noted Mastriano as an “extremist” in his statement Friday, and he’s been airing commercials with footage of Mastriano talking about his no-exceptions abortion stance.
U.S. Senate
Almost immediately after the Supreme Court released its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Democratic U.S.Senate nominee Lt. Gov. John Fetterman released a statement emphasizing the stakes of the November election.
“I will protect abortion rights,” Fetterman said in the statement. “[GOP nominee Mehmet Oz] will take them away. It’s that simple.”
Fetterman has vowed to support abortion access if elected to the Senate.
Oz was not as quick to discuss the ruling. It took more than three hours before he released a statement applauding the Supreme Court’s decision.
In his statement, Oz repeated his common campaign story about his time as a cardiothoracic surgeon operating on infants.
“I’ve held the smallest of human hearts in the palm of my hand, and will defend the sanctity of life,” Oz said.
Oz has used this story to support his anti-abortion stance that life begins at conception. However, he supports exceptions to abortion bans when the life of the mother is in danger and in instances of rape or incest.
NEPA state lawmakers
The Times Leader reached out to all of the region’s state lawmakers. Following are remarks from those who responded.
Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, said the ruling “has put the abortion issue back in the hands of the American people, and their duly elected representatives.”
“Despite the court ruling, abortion remains safe, legal, and limited in Pennsylvania,” Yudichak said.
“As a pro-life Independent, I have tried to strike a balance between women’s reproductive rights and my beliefs that access to abortion should not be unfettered. As abortion legislation moves forward in Pennsylvania, I will remain open to all voices in this very challenging public debate.”
Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, said of the ruling that “like most people, I’m working to understand how it will affect our Commonwealth and its residents.”
“In Pennsylvania, the Abortion Control Act is nuanced and prohibits abortions beyond 24 weeks unless the health of the mother is at risk. While there will be calls to either fully outlaw it or to allow abortions all the way up to full-term birth including partial birth abortions, the law in Pennsylvania should recognize the child’s viability outside the womb,” Kaufer added.
“As a legislator, I have not supported an outright ban on abortion and believe in exceptions based on rape,
incest, the health of the mother, and viability of the child,” he said.
Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski, D-Waverly, lamented what she called “a dark day.”
“This ruling not only abruptly dismantled decades of settled law, but it is putting women’s lives and health at risk,” said Kosierowski. “The vast majority of Americans support Roe V. Wade and everyone should remind themselves that elections have consequences. The court’s decision means that states will decide. We are one vote away from losing access to care. Antichoice legislation will never rid abortion, it would just eliminate safe and legal abortion.
“The most personal medical decision a woman makes should be between herself and her doctor, not between a legislature or even a Supreme Court,” Kosierowski said. “With this decision to overturn, I much fear what rights will be on the chopping block next. Access to contraception? Marriage equality? Interracial marriage? It is a dark day in America when a gun has more rights than a woman.”
Future challenges for Pa. law
Shortly after the draft memo of the Supreme Court ruling leaked in Politico in May, anti- and pro-abortion activists began preparing for a proposed referendum that would circumvent whoever is elected in November.
A proposed constitutional amendment, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, would codify that it’s Pennsylvania’s policy to “protect the life of every unborn child from conception to birth.”
This constitutional amendment received a 29-20 vote on the Senate floor early in the legislative process, but was later removed from consideration — for now. A constitutional amendment must be approved by a simple majority in the House and Senate in two different legislative sessions before it reaches the ballot for voters to decide.
Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, who introduced the amendment, claimed that this amendment “reiterates the status quo” that Pennsylvania does not allow taxpayer funding for an abortion and that abortion is not a constitutional right in the state.
Still, this constitutional amendment has the potential to bypass even a Democratic governor, since constitutional amendments can’t be vetoed.
Sue Frietsche, a senior staff attorney with the Women’s Law Project said Friday that though abortions remain legal in Pennsylvania, that could change under this amendment proposed in Senate Bill 956.
If this passes, “there’s kind of nowhere else to go,” Ms. Frietsche said in a press call with Planned Parenthood on Friday.
“We need everybody to get out there today,” Frietsche said. “Work as hard as you can to maintain abortion rights through our state constitution.”
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Includes reporting by Gillian McGoldrick of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Bill O’Boyle of the Times Leader.