HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP, KYW Newsradio) — A proposal to have voters decide whether to add a provision to the Pennsylvania Constitution to say it does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions passed the Legislature on Friday and could be on the ballot next spring.
The language was among five proposed Republican-written amendments that were approved by both the House and Senate after a pair of charged debates among state lawmakers who have promised their voters to fight for or against abortion rights.
“Do we want the people of the commonwealth to fund abortions — why are we so afraid to put this question before the people?” said Rep. Clint Owlett, of Tioga County, among many Republicans to focus on letting the voters decide.
Democrats said the measure was a step that will put GOP lawmakers closer to achieving what is, for most of them, a longstanding goal: to prohibit or severely limit access to abortion.
“It's a pathway,” said Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, “and to say otherwise is a lie.”
Just shy of midnight Friday morning, the Senate chamber’s Rules Committee teed up the package of proposed amendments that would also require voters to show ID at polling places and have gubernatorial candidates choose their own running mates. A vote of the full Senate could occur Friday.
The Democratic floor leader, state Sen. Jay Costa of Allegheny County, said he saw the abortion bill as “designed to prevent abortions in this commonwealth” while the sponsor, Republican state Sen. Judy Ward of Blair, said it would simply give the Legislature power to determine abortion law.
The proposal was tacked onto a package of constitutional amendments in a bill the state House approved in December. Other amendments would let lawmakers disapprove regulations without facing a governor’s veto and have the General Assembly set up a system for the auditor general to conduct election audits.
“Our Abortion Control Act will still remain in place,” said Ward, an abortion rights opponent. “And this constitutional amendment will just go to the people and it allows us in the Legislature the ability to set these rules and laws concerning abortion in this commonwealth.”
Related
State Sen. Katie Muth, D-Montgomery, vowed that “women and their allies will not stand for this. This is a ban on our rights.”
“I don’t need a single person in this room to tell me what to do with my body,” Muth said. “I don’t.”
State Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, lashed out at Republicans who, she said, are resorting to constitutional amendments to bypass a veto.
“The Pennsylvania Constitution is not your to-do list,” she said. “It’s not the place you run to just because you want to circumvent a veto.”
Related
The state Constitution requires proposed amendments to pass both chambers in a two-year legislative session, then be advertised to the public before the next fall election. In the second round that follows, those proposals then must pass both chambers in the following two-year session. They would then go before voters as separate questions for the final say.
The bill passed the Senate 28-22. Amendments do not require the governor’s support.
In the Thursday night debate, Costa accused Republicans of turning to the constitutional amendment process as a way to avoid the veto of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.
The bill is in its first two-year session so must be advertised three months ahead of the Nov. 8 election if the Republican majority wants to get it to voters during the 2023-24 session that starts in January.
Western Pennsylvania Republican state Sen. Joe Pittman said like it or not, Roe is in the rearview mirror.
“I can’t think of a more proper approach than to pose the question to the voters as to how we should continue with such a significant policy,” he said.
Related
While some Democrats argue Republicans target these amendments to run on ballots in off-year primaries with low turnouts, state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh, welcomes the challenge.
“Let the voters reject this,” she said. “Let them deliver a message once and for all. A woman’s right to choose deserves protection.”