Pennsylvania Action Item - Contact Your State Legislators and Urge them to Support H.B. 1948

Mike McMonagle, President
Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania

Upcoming Vote in the Pennsylvania House on H.B.1948

This bill amends Pennsylvania's Abortion Control Act (ACA) to ban post-20 weeks gestation abortions and abortions committed by dismembering the child with the same exceptions as in the current Pennsylvania ACA. According to the Pa. Health Department, abortionists committed 1,553 dismemberment abortions in Pa. in 2014 of the total 32,126 abortions.

Gov. Wolf has promised to veto this legislation, if passed, and it is unlikely that the Pa. General Assembly would override his veto. Nevertheless, the consideration of this bill is a huge advance for the pro-life movement in Pa. After 27 years of no efforts to ban, or even regulate, abortions in Pa., this bill requires our state legislators to take a public position on legislation to ban some abortions and generate a public debate on certain aspects of the "abortion issue." The pro-life movement in Pennsylvania can greatly benefit from this bill being debated and voted on in the Pennsylvania House and Senate.

From experience in the U.S. Congress and in other states, the forces of the Culture of Death will make an argument against this legislation that late-term abortions are needed to eliminate children with disabilities.

The Pa. House Health Committee passed H.B.1948 on April 4, 2016 on a 16-10 vote after defeating an amendment to kill the bill by delaying action for public hearings on a 10-10 vote. On April 6, 2016, the full Pa. House defeated this same amendment on a 114-73 vote. Please visit www.house.state.pa.us to learn how your Pa. House member voted.

Please note that some legislators who claim to be pro-life voted for this pro-abortion amendment and 15 legislators, most of whom claim to be pro-life, refused to vote on this amendment.

The full Pennsylvania House could hold a final passage vote as early as April 11, 2016. So, please contact your Pa. House member as soon as possible and urge him or her to vote for the final passage of H.B.1948.

The Pennsylvania Senate leadership has promised prompt action on H.B.1948. So, please also contact your State Senator and urge him or her to support this legislation and oppose any delaying or weakening amendments.

If you don’t know who your state representative is, or you need contact information, please use this link.

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