Advocates dressed as “handmaids” arrived at the Pennsylvania Capitol last week to silently observe the debate on #SB3, the way PA lawmakers forced constituents to do by shutting them out of the debate.
Last week, as the President implied a sitting Senator is a whore and a politician accused of sexually preying on teenage girls almost won a seat in the U.S. Senate, here in Pennsylvania, our mostly male, mostly white GOP-controlled state legislature played another key part in attempting to enforce a regressive vision for women: they passed an unconstitutional abortion bill that, if implemented, would mandate pregnant Pennsylvanians receive substandard healthcare by threatening physicians with felony arrest.
Senate Bill 3 is despicable, not only for the goal, but for the process.
The bill itself described a medical procedure with made-up terms, exploiting the legislative process to amplify special interest propaganda. It contained junk-science claims contradicted by medical consensus. It passed out of Committee only after the Committee’s membership was altered. Its supporters repeatedly rejected calls for public hearings in order to lock out medical experts, doctors, and women, the targets of the draconian vision of its supporters.
Thank you to Governor Tom Wolf for compassion and wisdom in pledging to protect women of Pennsylvania from this regressive agenda by vetoing this dangerous bill.
In addition to being medically dangerous and an affront to the democratic process, our analysis of this bill has concluded that it is unconstitutional, both because it criminalizes pre-viability abortion and because it criminalizes a common and safe method of abortion that is often the best medical option.
The legislative debate surrounding passage of this legislation revealed an appalling disregard of medical facts and a lack of respect for women.
We hope you will join us in thanking the 70 state House members who voted against this bill, as well as Governor Wolf for pledging to veto Senate Bill 3. Thank you for supporting women’s dignity, equality, and safety and listening to women and their doctors.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing the rights of women and girls.
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