PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want voters to decide if abortion rights should be specifically protected in the state Constitution. But, despite a two-debate on the state House floor, it’s unlikely it will ever make it on the ballot.
State House Majority leader Matt Bradford, a Democrat representing Montgomery County, said reproductive rights need to be spelled out in the state Constitution, as, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, abortion rights in Pennsylvania could be wiped out in one election.
“Does anyone doubt — if we had a Republican trifecta, if Josh Shapiro loses and a one-seat majority in the House is erased — does anyone doubt that Republican leadership won’t move immediately on the Abortion Control Act?” he asked.
Those opposed to the amendment said nothing has changed in Pennsylvania, and this goes too far by wiping out current protections for both baby and mother.
“I believe that the language in this bill, regardless of the intent, has the potential to do great harm to both mother and child alike,” said House Minority Republican leader Jesse Topper, “and it’s for this reason that I am compelled to oppose it.”
The state House has a one-seat Democratic majority. The vote passed 102-101 largely along party lines, with all but two Democrats voting in favor and all but two Republicans voting against.
A constitutional amendment has to pass both the state House and Senate in two separate sessions before it goes on the ballot for Pennsylvania voters to decide. The earliest it could be on the ballot is 2027.
However, it is unlikely to pass the GOP-led state Senate.
“This bill is not becoming law,” stated Topper. “It will not be taken up by the Senate.”