Put up or shut up — that’s the message abortion rights advocates are sending Pennsylvania Democrats who campaigned and won on the issue but have yet to vote on a single abortion bill this session.
“Our issue is not just an issue they can win on,” Signe Espinoza, the executive director of Planned Parenthood’s lobbying arm in Pennsylvania, said during a recent news conference. “It’s an issue where livelihoods are on the line.”
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Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups believe more can and should be done in the state to protect the right to an abortion and believe the time to act is now, pointing to border state West Virginia’s near-total ban on the procedure.
Democrats in Pennsylvania flipped the state House for the first time in more than a decade, largely crediting the win to promising voters they’d put a plan in place to protect a woman’s right to obtain an abortion.
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Pennsylvania has a Democratic governor, a Democratic majority in the state House, and plenty of polls that show voters care and support some type of abortion access. With such favorable conditions, activists want to know why more isn’t getting done.
“The math ain’t math-ing,” Espinoza told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We don’t give folks a pass when it comes to this. We know that our healthcare can’t wait, particularly abortion care. It is timely, and it is lifesaving.”
Democrats control the House by a one-seat majority, which means that in order to pass a bill, every single member needs to be present and vote for it. Since Republicans have the majority in the state Senate, it’s highly unlikely meaningful changes to the state’s abortion laws or expanded access would pass. “I certainly understand the frustration,” Democratic state Sen. Amanda Cappelletti told the news outlet.
The 36-year-old lawmaker had previously worked as a policy director for Planned Parenthood before being elected to the state legislature in 2020. She added, “I also understand that we have a really slim majority in the House that we fought for, well into the session cycle, and we are trying to hold it strong. … I know that for Democratic leadership overall, this is a really important issue, and they haven’t forgotten.”
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Espinoza is going to make sure of it — and is working with Democratic lawmakers on a bill that would allow nurse practitioners and midwives to be able to carry out the procedure and not just doctors, as the current law mandates.
