This morning, Pennsylvania lawmakers will vote on two dangerous bills with the explicit focus of restricting access to a broad range of reproductive healthcare.
Permanent Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment (SB 956 – J. Ward)
We recently told you about the proposed anti-abortion amendment which is the biggest threat to reproductive freedom we have ever faced in Pennsylvania.
We are serious when we tell you the single most urgent thing you can do to protect the future of abortion and reproductive healthcare access in Pennsylvania is work to oppose this constitutional amendment, which threatens not only the future of abortion access but also miscarriage management and IVF procedures by anchoring what amounts to a permanent abortion ban in our state constitution—a document that exists to protect our rights, not restrict them. The governor cannot veto it and, if it passes, it will mean future abortion restrictions could not be challenged under the Pennsylvania constitution.
Read the letter we sent to the General Assembly explaining our opposition to SB 956 here.
Defunding Preventative Reproductive Healthcare (SB 152 – J. Ward)
The second bill, also introduced by Senator Judy Ward, seeks to punish low-income women in Pennsylvania who rely on Planned Parenthood for their primary reproductive healthcare by banning Planned Parenthood from participating in decades-old public funding streams that subsidize their healthcare, including pap smears, STI screenings and contraception.
Read the letter we sent to the General Assembly explaining our opposition to SB 152 here.
Both bills are up for a vote at 10:30AM in the Pennsylvania Senate Health & Human Services Committee.
Take Action!
Contact Senator Judy Ward and tell her you oppose these bills. Call her Harrisburg office at (717) 787-5490, find her Facebook here, and twitter here.
If these bills are voted out of Committee, the full Senate will vote on them next. It is urgent that you contact your Senator and urge them to OPPOSE both of these bills.
Do you want to do more to oppose these efforts? Contact us at tmurtha@womenslawproject.org.
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.
Sign up for WLP’s Action Alerts. Stay up to date by following us on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
January 2022: Our physical offices are still closed but we are OPEN and working to serve your needs. Contact us here.
