Pa. Represnetative Rapp Calls Gov. Wolf’s Veto Message of Late-Term Abortion Ban Disingenuous, Untruthful

from Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus


HARRISBURG – Representative Kathy Rapp (R-Warren/Crawford/Forest), who serves as majority chair of the bipartisan House Pro-Life Caucus, issued the following statement regarding Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of legislation, she originally introduced, to update Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act to ban horrific late-term dismemberment abortions (Senate Bill 3):

“With the full backing of Planned Parenthood, the governor went out of his way to leave no doubt that he would veto this pro-life legislation. However, the primary reasoning contained in his veto message that Senate Bill 3 provided no exceptions for rape, incest or endangering the life of the mother is disingenuous, untruthful and can be entirely disproved through a simple review of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act.

“Title 18, Section 3215 A 1-3, prohibits publicly owned facilities, public officials and public funds from being ‘used for the provision, inducement or performance of any abortion except where necessary to avert the death of the womanor where necessary to terminate pregnancies initiated by acts of rape or incest...’”

“Simply stated, Senate Bill 3 was introduced as an amendment to the Abortion Control Act and would do nothing to alter or remove these exceptions that are spelled out in this quarter-century-old statute.

“If signed into law, this legislation, based on major advances in science, medical technology and health care, would have specifically prohibited abortions after five months of pregnancy, recognizing the capacity of unborn children to feel pain, and the fact that health risks to the mother significantly increase after 20 weeks of pregnancy. In addition, Senate Bill 3 would have ended the barbaric practice of dismemberment abortion, which involves tearing a baby limb from limb, and resulting in a likely slow and painful death.

“Clearly, the governor is either completely ignorant about the exceptions already granted in the Abortion Control Act, or is blindly ignoring current law to further the agenda of Planned Parenthood, the world’s single largest abortion provider. Regardless, the governor’s deeply flawed arguments for vetoing Senate Bill 3 can never excuse his death-determining decision against countless innocent unborn children or the continued endangerment of the health and well-being of their mothers.”