HARRISBURG, Pa. — A bill seeking to protect those who travel to Pennsylvania to obtain abortions by barring state officials from cooperating with authorities in other states that criminalise the practice advanced Wednesday through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
The bill passed 117-86. It now goes to the GOP-controlled state Senate, where it faces a cool reception.
The measure seeks to prevent officials in Pennsylvania, where abortion is legal up to 24 weeks, from cooperating with authorities in other states who try to block their residents from coming to Pennsylvania for abortions.
All but one Democrat voted for the bill, while 16 Republicans joined them.
At least 16 states – the majority of them Democrat-controlled – have passed laws since last year to protect access to abortion. Many of these laws include provisions to protect providers and people who travel from other states to obtain abortions. Although anti-abortion advocates have discussed cracking down on those who cross state lines to obtain abortions, prosecutions of such cases have not been widespread.
Democrats in Pennsylvania hailed the legislation as protecting women in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned abortion rights.
The bill’s chief sponsor, Democratic Representative Mary Jo Daley of Montgomery County, said it sent a clear message “that Pennsylvania will not be bullied by these states and their attempts to control other people’s bodies.
“I strongly believe that Pennsylvania must continue to adopt policies that protect access to abortion and other critical reproductive health care services that people across our country need and deserve,” she said.
Republicans raised concerns about the constitutionality of the bill, saying the legislature was overstepping its bounds.
Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa, R-Fayette, said that while proponents of the bill were trying to focus it on abortion rights to suit the political climate, it was an affront to the clause in the U.S. Constitution that states must respect the judicial process of others.
“Everyone in this room took an oath to uphold the Constitution,” she said. “If you vote yes on this bill, regardless of your position on abortion, you are ignoring your oath. You’re throwing that oath in the dustbin. I refuse to do that.”
Signe Espinoza, executive director of Planned Parenthood PA Advocates, thanked the legislature for the move and said the measure would protect patients from “other states imposing their extremism within our borders”.
“Everyone has the right to make their own health care decisions without fear of retribution or prosecution,” she said.
Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has positioned himself as a defender of abortion rights. He recently severed decades-long ties with Real Alternatives, an organisation that talked women out of having abortions.
Abortion rights figured prominently in the state’s recent Supreme Court race and, nationally, boosted Democrats at the polls after the nation’s highest court overturned Roe V. Wade last year.
Some of Pennsylvania’s neighbouring states have sought to protect access to abortion, but women from states where abortion rights have been restricted have come to Pennsylvania in greater numbers to seek services. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, centres in Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania have seen a sharp increase in appointments from women in West Virginia and Ohio, where voters recently approved an amendment to protect abortion access.