LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — First lady Dr. Jill Biden took the stage during Sunday’s Women for Biden-Harris event at Millersville University.
The event highlighted women’s reproductive rights ahead of the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe versus Wade, ruling abortion is not a federal right.
“Fifty years later, we are still fighting the battles that were settled so many decades ago,” Jill Biden said.
Joining the First Lady on stage was Dr. Sharee Livingston, an OBGYN and Black maternal health advocate.
She’s hoping the Biden administration will broaden access to reproductive health care for people like her patients.
“They are terrified that their reproductive rights, contraceptive rights, are being taken away and as a doctor, it’s between me and the patient and no one else,” Livingston said.
“Joe is leading a whole of government response to the overturning of roe v. Wade, strengthening access to reproductive health care and fighting for a national law that would restore Roe’s protection,” the First Lady said.
Currently, states can individually decide to limit abortion access, and the topic will be important for many voters in deciding who to vote for in the presidential election.
FOX43 received a statement from the Pennsylvania Family Institute, which argues for the protection of the unborn.
“The Biden administration is pushing for more abortion in Pennsylvania and that’s not in the best interests of women and their families. Our states already allow abortion up to six months in pregnancy for any reason except the sex of the preborn child. And pro-abortion lawmakers are constantly working to remove what few protections we do have. Preborn babies deserve our protection. Women deserve better,” said policy officer Alexis Sneller on behalf of PA Family Institute.
“There’s no question that women’s health matters. Too often abortion is offered as the only reproductive health care option. All women deserve to have optimal medical care and information on their pregnancy to ensure positive maternal health outcomes. That is exactly what A Woman’s Concern in Lancaster provides all women who walk through our doors. As a pregnancy medical and resource center, we provide a variety of vital resources and support that empower women to thrive,” added Jill Hartman, executive director of A Woman’s Concern.
Attendees like Abby Norman say it’s important for Pennsylvanians to make their voices heard in November.
“It’ very important that if you feel something is a struggle for yourself, it’s probably a struggle for other people, no one is in anything alone,” Norman said.
Dr. Jill Biden is expected to visit Philadelphia and North Carolina later in the week.