Dear John,
Abortion is healthcare. There are many reasons why women need safe and legal access to this procedure. Women will die in Pennsylvania if abortion is not legal.
In the wake of the decision to overturn Roe v Wade, there is no longer a federal check on what states do regarding abortion. The Republicans in Harrisburg are planning to amend our Constitution to permanently restrict access to abortion. Senate Bill 956 has been waiting in the wings since 2021 and it would do just that.
Part of the co-sponsorship memo from the Republican Senator regarding SB956 reads:
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0956&pn=1286
“In order to prevent Pennsylvania’s abortion laws from being struck down, I am proposing a simple amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution clarifying that there is no right to an abortion or abortion funding within Pennsylvania’s constitution. This amendment is designed to maintain our laws regulating abortion and preventing the taxpayer funding of elective abortion.”
It is very clear that it is not enough to elect Josh Shapiro but we MUST flip Pennsylvania from the Republican majority we now have to a Democratic majority! If the Republicans continue in the majority, they will run a referendum to put this on the ballot in our state. Please read the language of SB956 now. We CANNOT ALLOW this to happen.
We all must talk to our family and friends to vote for the Democrat candidate running in their district for the State House and PA Senate (if applicable). Every state house seat is up for re-election this year. Not all senate seats are up. It is the only way we can stop the majority from prohibiting the right to choose for every woman in your life in PA. We must become the majority!
If the Republicans stay in control, we will need to fight a referendum and history shows us how difficult that is to defeat. The bill will be called something like The Womens Health Care Bill, something that misrepresents its true meaning.
Please mobilize - donate, volunteer, make calls, write postcards, do everything you can to flip this state. I promise you that in addition to my own race, I too will be working tirelessly with other candidates to do just that.
Thank you for your continued support. We will move through this together.
