Chris UlleryBucks County Courier Times
Pennsylvania officials reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining access to abortion Friday as reproductive health centers in the state see a spike in out-of-state patients following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro joined Gov. Tom Wolf Friday afternoon at the Women’s Center of Montgomery County to ensure there would be no cooperation with states seeking to prosecute doctors in the commonwealth who provide abortions to out-of-state residents.
“Pennsylvania doctors and health care providers, hear me on this: You can continue to provide abortions in the commonwealth and we have your backs,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said strict abortion laws triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson ruling have already sent droves of patients to Pennsylvania from states like Ohio and West Virginia.
Shapiro told reproductive rights advocates and domestic violence support workers that the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center in Pittsburgh has reported nearly 10 times the calls it normally sees in the weeks following Dobbs.
“Before Dobbs, at that Pittsburgh clinic, they were seeing only a third of their patients coming from out-of-state. Now, in just the last few weeks, they have seen that number explode to over 70% of their patients coming from out-of-state,” Shapiro said.
Early this month, Wolf signed an executive order that the state would decline any request from any other state to arrest or detain any out-of-state resident who had traveled to Pennsylvania to seek an abortion, as well as anyone providing or assisting with it.
"When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this year, it was not merely an attack on abortion as health care but it was an attack on the right to bodily autonomy," Wolf said. "Bans on abortion increase rates of maternal mortality, cause financial hardship that hurt families and our economy, and put people in abusive relationships at more risk."
Maria Macaluso, executive director of the Montgomery County center, said the role reproductive rights can have in an abusive relationship can often go overlooked by many.
"Many people see domestic violence as the physical, very physical violence we know is criminal. But domestic violence is really about control," Macaluso said. "Preventing a partner from having an abortion is abuse, and forcing a partner to stay pregnant is unfortunately an effective way of keeping them dependent and trapped in a relationship."
Macaluso added that pregnancy is often a time of rising violence in abusive relationships.
Dr. Karen Feisullin, an OB-GYN with Jefferson Health Family Planning, said there are many reasons when an abortion may be necessary, saying that every patient's unique situation requires doctors like her to provide the best care without fear of legal repercussions.
"I just want to add that I look forward to the ability to have a safe abortion accessible in Pennsylvania made part of our constitution," Feisullin added.
While an amendment to guarantee the right to abortion isn't currently under consideration by lawmakers, state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-11, of Berks County, said General Assembly members of the Women's Health Caucus would "fight tooth and nail" against a proposed ballot question to restrict abortions.
Wolf on Thursday sued the Pennsylvania General Assembly over a package of proposed constitutional amendments that Republican lawmakers are pursuing, including one that would say the state constitution does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions.
The lawsuit asks the state Supreme Court to throw out the amendments as not constitutionally valid, arguing that the proposed abortion amendment violates privacy protections.
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Senate Bill 106, the package that passed earlier this month as lawmakers finalized the state’s budget, includes amendments that would require voter ID, have gubernatorial candidates choose their own running mates, empower lawmakers to cancel regulations without facing a governor’s veto, and establish election audits.
Wolf’s lawsuit says the package violates a constitutional rule against passing legislation that addresses multiple, unrelated topics.
“Unable to implement their radical through proper legislative channels, the Republican-controlled General Assembly repackaged its failed legislative agenda as SB 106, a joint resolution proposing amendments to the Pennsylvania Constitution,” the lawsuit states.
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The amendment bill package passed a 28-22 vote in the state Senate and a 107-92 vote in the House on July 8. The votes were mostly along party lines and Democrats have lambasted Republicans over what they say is a scheme to put the question to voters during an off-year primary when turnout is often low and see more Republican voters show up at the polls.
Rep. Todd Stephens, R-151, of Horsham, who joined the panel of lawmakers and advocates at Friday's press conference, said afterward that he voted against SB 106 because it seemed like extensive government overreach.
"Women's health care decisions need to remain between a woman and her doctor and ... this would be the first time where the constitution would actually prohibit a right or take a right away that people previously enjoyed and I just think that's wrong on so many levels," Stephens said.
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Stephens was one of a handful of Republican House members who voted against SB 106.
When the legislature begins a new session in January, state lawmakers could vote to add the constitutional referendums on the ballot during the May 16 primary.
Wolf has also promised to veto any bills aimed at further restricting access to abortions in Pennsylvania, which currently allows the procedures up to 24 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions after that period if the health or the life of the mother is at risk.
Republicans have increasinglyturned to the constitutional amendment processto accomplish policy objectives that Wolf opposes. In 2021, they successfully got two amendments on the ballot to limit Wolf’s authority during a pandemic emergency, andvoters narrowly approvedthem.
Wolf and other lawmakers also encouraged advocates to keep voters engaged into November, where Shapiro is the Democratic candidate for governor against Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-33, of Franklin County. While there were allusions to Shapiro's candidacy by Wolf and other speakers, no one specifically referenced the race during the press conference.
Shapiro said the press conference was not a campaign stop, though he did respond when pressed on a question regarding Mastriano's position against abortions without exception.
