All eyes are on Pennsylvania this week as we prepare to present oral arguments in a significant abortion rights case before Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 26.
Arguments in Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services are scheduled to take place at 9:30 AM on October 26 at the City-County Building in Pittsburgh. Audio will be live-streamed here.
Plaintiffs, a group of abortion providers that provide the majority of abortion care in Pennsylvania, are challenging the state statute that bans abortion coverage through the Pennsylvania Medicaid program in a case wherein the Court has also been asked to affirm reproductive rights are protected by our state Constitution.
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Women’s Law Project, law professor David S. Cohen, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Women’s Law Project attorney and interim co-director Susan J. Frietsche and law professor David S. Cohen will argue on behalf of petitioners before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Specifically, petitioners seek a court order requiring the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to comply with the state Constitution by covering abortion through Medicaid, a court order declaring abortion is a fundamental right under the Pennsylvania Constitution, and to overrule the 1985 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in Fischer v. Department of Public Welfare. Petitioners also request the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reverse the Commonwealth Court’s improper rulings regarding standing and intervention.
Thank you to the more than 40 organizations submitted amicus curiae briefs supporting plaintiffs in this case! Additional background can be found here. Litigation documents can be reviewed here.
How You Can Support Us
Together, we can save reproductive freedom in Pennsylvania.
Every Pennsylvanian who cares about gender equality, racial justice, and abortion rights needs to speak out against the anti-abortion constitutional amendment. The sole purpose of this amendment is to strip our rights our of our constitution to pave the way to ban abortion in Pennsylvania.
Please sign our petition opposing the anti-abortion constitutional amendment, share with three friends, and stay tuned for more actions.
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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