The appalling truth is that this may be last the year to witness the anniversary of landmark case Roe v. Wade.
There’s a lot to say about the radical regression of reproductive rights in the United States and how this devolution is playing out at the U.S. Supreme Court. We’ll leave that to Justice Sonya Sotomayor, who outlined what’s happening in a dissent issued earlier this week after the Court, once again, refused to help the people of Texas, who have been suffering under blatantly unconstitutional Texas Senate Bill 8 for months now.
Today, however, is a time to focus on action.
While Roe is more fragile than ever, it’s important to remember that at the time, Roe was an unexpected win. As Justice William Brennan wrote in his personal account, initially “it looked extremely doubtful that there would be a majority for the position that restrictive abortion laws are unconstitutional.”
The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do Right Now to Save Reproductive Rights in Pennsylvania
At least 14 anti-abortion bills have been introduced in the Pennsylvania Legislature this session. These include abortion restrictions, attempts to classify behavior while pregnant as child abuse, attacks on access to contraceptives, among other threats.
The biggest threat of all of them, by far, is an anti-abortion constitutional amendment (House Bill 2252 (R-Oberlander) and Senate Bill 956 (R-Ward).
SB 956 is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday, January 25.
The single most important thing you can do right now to save reproductive rights in Pennsylvania is to commit to advocate against the anti-abortion constitutional amendment, which seeks to enshrine abortion restrictions into our state constitution.
The governor does not have the power to veto constitutional amendments.
The ability to circumvent the balance of powers is exactly why right-wing lawmakers are increasingly pushing this type of “naked power grab” legislation.
The governor can’t stop it, but you can.
Begin by contacting members of the Senate HHS Committee and urge them to OPPOSE anti-abortion constitutional amendment SB 956. Phone calls and voicemails are usually more effective than emails, but emails and social media, especially, help a lot too.
Then contact your Senator and Representative and urge them to oppose this bill.
Please share this message as widely as possible and urge your friends to to the same.
Stay tuned here for updates and follow coverage of the hearing on twitter on Tuesday.
Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond. As a non-profit organization, we can not do this work without you. Please consider supporting our work.
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