YORK, Pa. — Pennsylvania Senator Judy Ward (R – Blair, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon) introduced Senate Bill 956 in a legislative session on Jan. 25 in light of a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates.
The lawsuit, which is now before the Pa. Supreme Court, demands taxpayer funding of abortion and asks the court to declare a right to abortion in the state constitution.
"We are living the effects of the Trump era, and the Supreme Court justices do not have folks' best interests in mind," said Signe Espinoza, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates.
Meanwhile, Ward said SB-956 does two things: "It states that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, and it also says that tax payer dollars cannot be used for elective abortions."
Maria Gallagher, the legislative director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation called this bill a win for Pennsylvanians.
"We would want to see a ban on taxpayer-funding abortion because we know that the abortion rate rises tremendously when there are free abortions," she said.
Alexis Sneller, the communications and policy officer for the Pennsylvania Family Institute, expressed similar sentiments.
"It just gives more power to the people, and it makes it so that seven people on the court aren't dictating our policies especially on something like abortions," she said.
Meanwhile, Espinoza said this bill is a breach of Pennsylvanians' rights.
"The 'no right to abortion' amendment will definitely pave the way to banning abortion in our state," she said. "...The amendment also invites politicians into our most intimate decisions."
This bill needs to pass two consecutive legislative sessions before it could head to the ballot for Pennsylvanians to decide.