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Abortion providers have brought a lawsuit before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court claiming that the Pennsylvania Constitution requires the state to pay for elective abortions with Medicaid funds. The suit is based on the premise that abortion is nothing more than routine health care and that applying any restrictions or special regulations on abortion procedures amounts to unconstitutional discrimination against women. It is likely that the state Supreme Court will rule in favor of the abortion industry in the near future, "discovering," for the first time in history, that there is a fundamental right to abortion on demand hidden away in the Pennsylvania Constitution. The decision could come at any time.
Not only will taxpayer funded abortions be mandatory, significantly increasing the number of lives lost, but it will be practically impossible to protect babies even in the last three months of pregnancy. Not even the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act, with its very modest protections for unborn children and their mothers, will not survive. The Abortion Control Act, in force since the 1990s, ensures that women are informed about the biological development of the baby and the availability of alternatives to abortion. It also gives the woman 24 hours to process the information. The Act also ensures that at least one parent is involved in a minor daughter's abortion decision or that a judge determines that the minor is mature enough to opt for abortion without a parent's involvement. Even the ability of state health regulators to conduct inspections of abortion facilities will be compromised.
If or when the state Supreme Court rules in favor of the abortion providers, the only thing that will protect the people of Pennsylvania from unlimited, unregulated, and taxpayer-funded abortion through all nine months of pregnancy will a Constitutional amendment to explicitly affirm that nothing in the Constitution indicates that abortion has to be treated in all cases as routine health care or a fundamental right. The Constitution is silent on abortion and has been so since it was originally written. This amendment merely ensures that the state Supreme Court cannot tie the hands of our legislators and completely disregard the will of the people by unilaterally imposing an imaginary, non-existent "constitutional right."
This amendment only maintains the status quo; it makes no changes to the current abortion policies of the state. IT DOES NOTHING TO "BAN ABORTION" but only prevents the abortion extremists from becoming unstoppable, able to impose their entire extremist agenda with impunity.
Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution is a not a simple process. The amendment must be approved by majorities in the state House and state Senate, not once but twice, in two consecutive legislative sessions. Then, it must be placed on the ballot in a general election and approved by a majority of the voters. Although it is a challenging procedure, there is a strong likelihood that the effort will succeed, given that there are pro-life majorities in both the House and Senate. (A constitutional amendment is not subject to a governor's veto.)
The amendment already received its first approval from the PA House and PA Senate, on July 8, 2022 (Joint Resolution 106). The state House and Senate must now approve the measure in the next session of the General Assembly, which will begin in January. After the expected second approval, the final decision will be placed in the hands of the people. The process will be completed when the voters go to the polls in the general election on November 7, 2023.
CONTINUED ATTENTION NEEDED
Please send an e-mail or letter to your legislators and for good measure please consider making a phone call as well. Contact information for state legislators who serve northwestern Pennsylvania is provided below. Your basic message should be as follows.
"Please support the pro-life constitutional amendment to keep our state Constitution abortion-neutral. There is no right to abortion in our state Constitution, and it must not be interpreted in any other way. The people of Pennsylvania deserve a chance to participate in the lawmaking process. Making important decisions that affect the lives of so many of Pennsylvania's unborn children should not be the sole prerogative of the seven individuals on our Supreme Court."
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Northwestern Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania Senate |
Sen. Michele Brooks (R)
Senatorial District 50
mbrooks@pasen.gov
District Office
100 Hadley Road, Suite 9
Greenville, PA 16125
Phone: (724) 588-8911
Fax: (724) 588-5464
Meadville Office
16678 McMath Avenue
Meadville, PA 16335
Phone: (814) 337-8132
Fax: (814) 337-5055
Meadville Office
Chamber Building
908 Diamond Park Square
Meadville, PA 16335
Phone: (800) 457-2040
Edinboro Office
99 Erie Street, Suite 1
Edinboro, PA 16412
Phone: (814) 734-2783
Fax: (814) 734-2789
Capitol Office
168 Main Capitol Building
Senate Box 203050
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3050
Phone: (717) 787-1322
Fax: (717) 772-0577
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Sen. Scott E. Hutchinson (R)
Senatorial District 21
shutchinson@pasen.gov
District Office
229 Elm Street
Oil City, PA 16301
Phone: (814) 677-6345
Fax: (814) 677-6331
Butler Office
110 E. Diamond Street
Butler, PA 16001-5999
Phone: (724) 282-1234
Fax: (724) 282-6852
Warren Office
22045 Route 6
Warren, PA 16365-7952
Phone: (814) 728-2100
Fax: (814) 728-2102
Capitol Office
170 Main Capitol Building
Senate Box 203021
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3021
Phone: (717) 787-9684
Fax: (717) 787-6088
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Sen. Cris Dush (R)
Senatorial District 25
cdush@pasen.gov
District Office
5 Main Street
Wellsboro, PA 16901
Phone: (570) 724-5231
Fax: (570) 723-5119
Brookville Office
73 South White Street Suite 5
Brookville, PA 15825
(814) 646-7272
Fax: (814) 646-7275
Capitol Office
Room 16 East Wing
Senate Box 203025
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3025
Phone: (717) 787-7084
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Sen. Dan Laughlin (R)
Senatorial District 49
dlaughlin@pasen.gov
District Office
1314 Griswold Plaza, Ste. 101
Erie, PA 16501
Phone: (814) 453-2515
Capitol Office
169 Main Capitol
Senate Box 203049
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3049
Phone: (717) 787-8927
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Pennsylvania House of Representatives |
Rep. Ryan A. Bizzarro (D)
District 3 | Erie County
repbizzarro@pahouse.net
District Office
Peninsula Plaza
1101 Peninsula Drive
Suite 213
Erie, PA 16505
Phone: (814) 835-2880
Fax: (814) 835-2885
Capitol Office
414 Main Capitol Building
PO Box 202003
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2003
Phone: (717) 772-2297
Fax: (717) 780-4767
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Rep. Robert E. Merski (D)
District 2
rmerski@pahouse.net
District Office
3901 Liberty Street
Erie, PA 16509
Phone: (814) 455-6319
Fax: (814) 455-6593
Capitol Office
103A East Wing
PO Box 202002
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2002
Phone: (717) 787-4358
Fax: (717) 780-4774
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Rep. Patrick J. Harkins (D)
District 1 | Erie County
pharkins@pahouse.net
District Office
460 East 26th Street.
Erie, PA 16504
Phone: (814) 459-1949
Fax: (814) 871-4854
Capitol Office
331 Irvis Office Building
P.O. Box 202001
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2001
Phone: (717) 787-7406
Fax: (717) 780-4775
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Rep. Lee James (R)
District 64 | Venango County
rljames@pahousegop.com
District Office
3220 State Route 257, Suite 8
P.O. Box 547
Seneca, PA 16346
Phone: (814) 677-6413
Capitol Office
145A East Wing
PO Box 202064
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2064
Phone: (717) 783-8188
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Rep. Mark Longietti (D)
District 7 | Mercer County
mlongietti@pahouse.net
District Office
Unit 2-E
2213 Shenago Valley Fwy.
Hermitage, PA 16148
Phone: (724) 981-4655
Fax: (724) 981-6528
Greenville Office
Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce Building
182 Main St.
Greenville, PA 16125
Phone: (724) 588-1005
Fax: (724) 588-1023
Capitol Office
202 Irvis Office Building
PO Box 202007
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2007
Phone: (717) 772-4035
Fax: (717) 780-4785
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Rep. Timothy R. Bonner (R)
District 8 | Mercer County
Web Form
District Office
Unit 1
234 West Pine Street
Grove City, PA 16127
Phone: (724) 458-4911
Capitol Office
150A East Wing
PO Box 202008
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2008
Phone: (717) 783-6438
Fax: (717) 782-2943
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Rep. Kathy L. Rapp (R)
District 65 | Warren County
klrapp@pahousegop.com
District Offices
404 Market Street
Warren, PA 16365
Phone: (814) 723-5203
Fax: (814) 728-3564
Titusville Office
109 S. Washington Street
Park Building
Titusville, PA 16354
Phone: (814) 827-6054
Fax: (814) 878-5778
Capitol Office
Rep. Kathy L. Rapp
150 Main Capitol Building
PO Box 202065
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2065
Phone: (717) 787-1367
Fax: (717) 787-5854
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Rep. Brad Roae (R)
District 6 | Crawford County
broae@pahousegop.com
District Office
900 Water Street
Downtown Mall
Meadville, PA 16335
Phone: (814) 336-1136
Fax: (814) 337-7680
Fairview Office
Fairview Township Building
7471 McCray Rd.
Fairview, PA
(800) 770-2377
Cranesville Office
Cranesville Borough Office
10195 John Williams Ave.
Cranesville, PA 16410
(800) 770-2377
Capitol Office
151 East Wing
P.O. Box 202006
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2006
Phone: (717) 787-2353
Fax: (717) 260-6505
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Rep. Curt Sonney (R)
District 4 | Erie County
csonney@pahousegop.com
District Offices
4457 Buffalo Road
Erie, PA 16510
Phone: (814) 897-2080
Fax: (814) 897-2083
Corry Office
434 North Center Street
Corry, PA 16407
Phone: (814) 664-9126
Fax: (814) 664-5857
Capitol Office
214 Ryan Office Building
P.O. Box 202004
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2004
Phone: (717) 783-9087
Fax: (717) 787-2005
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Rep. Parke Wentling (R)
District 17 | Mercer County
pwentling@pahousegop.com
District Offices
142 Main Street
Suite 1W
Girard, PA 16417
Phone: (814) 774-3105
Fax: (814) 774-3108
Conneaut Lake Office
395 High Street #105
PO Box 17
Conneaut Lake, PA 16316
Phone: (814) 382-7200
Fax: (814) 382-7203
Capitol Office
106 Ryan Office Building
PO Box 202017
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2081
Phone: (717) 783-5008
Toll Free: (855) 249-2427
Fax: (717) 705-1948
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Outside Northwestern Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
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