PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Some key Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate have changed their position on legislation that would let adults who were sexually abused as children sue their abusers.
The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 11-3 and will move to a vote in the full Senate. It would give child sex abuse survivors who are outside the statute of limitations a two-year window to sue their abusers and any institution that covered up the abuse.
Judiciary Committee chair Lisa Baker still believes the proper way to give child sex abuse survivors their day in court is through a constitutional amendment.
“But if you believe as strongly as I do that abuse victims have been denied a fair remedy for far too long, then we are obligated to deliver every avenue to deliver a just result,” she said.
A constitutional amendment has to pass both the state House and Senate in two consecutive sessions, then it goes on the ballot for voters to decide. This legislation got there, but the Pennsylvania Department of State didn’t properly advertise it as required, so the process has to start over. The mistake forced then-Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar to resign.
That delay has changed the minds of several ranking GOP members, including Senate president pro tempore Jake Corman. He said enough is enough, and he’ll back the legislative fix because abuse victims deserve their day in court.
“To be asked to be patient to get through the constitutional process, which was the safest way, (then) to be on the doorstep of getting to that day,” he said, “and then to have that door slammed in your face one more time.”
Republican state Sen. John Gordner said he has heartfelt sympathy for anyone who was abused as a child, but he said lifting a constitutionally mandated protection through legislative means launches us down a slippery slope.
“It changes the constitution,” he said. “It changes how we deal with things in the future. There are no defenses that we can’t overturn by statute if we do this today and the Senate approves it and the governor signs it.”
The legislation calls for a special review by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.