PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Pennsylvania House committee advanced a bill that would amend the state constitution to protect abortion and reproductive rights.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced a series of bills addressing reproductive rights, including one from Chester County Democrat Danielle Friel Otten that would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to protect reproductive rights and abortion in Pennsylvania.
“Abortion is now banned or severely restricted in nearly 20 states, and we've seen the human cost preventable, preventable maternal deaths in Texas and Georgia, and even a 10-year-old rape victim forced to cross state lines to receive care in Ohio,” Otten said.
Supporters said the amendment is necessary after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with Dobbs v. Jackson, which shifted abortion policy to the states.
“House Bill 1957 proposes a constitutional amendment that guarantees every Pennsylvanian the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, including the right to choose or refuse an abortion, contraception and fertility care free from government interference and discrimination," Otten said.
Minority Chair Republican Rob Kauffman said the number of abortions in Pennsylvania has risen every year since Dobbs.
“This amendment is unnecessary, but even more, it's dangerous to the future of Pennsylvania's families, and we will be opposing this amendment,” Kauffman said, adding that this goes well beyond a woman’s right to choose.
“It appears that any effort to deny gender affirming hormone therapy to children on the grounds that the treatments would impair the child's fertility would unquestionably be challenged as infringing upon the child's personal reproductive liberty.”
The bill advanced out of committee on a party-line vote. To amend the constitution, both the State House and the Republican-controlled Senate must pass the measure in two consecutive sessions before it goes on the ballot for Pennsylvania voters to decide.
Rep Friel Otten said, “The path forward will be challenging, but it's essential.”