In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court has recently revived a 2019 lawsuit by abortion providers against the state law that limits public funding for abortions, arguing it is discriminatory. The court’s decision, overturning an earlier dismissal by the Commonwealth Court, sends the case back for further review.
Central to this dispute is the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act from the 1980s, which restricts state and federal abortion funding to cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest. The providers contend that this policy unfairly targets women, highlighting the absence of similar restrictions for male-specific medical conditions.
Previously, the Commonwealth Court had dismissed the lawsuit, adhering to a 1985 Pennsylvania Supreme Court precedent upholding abortion restrictions. However, the current ruling challenges this precedent, asserting that the law discriminates against women seeking abortions and affirming the providers’ standing to sue.
Currently, abortion in Pennsylvania is legal up to 24 weeks into pregnancy, with some exceptions. This contrasts with seventeen other states that use their funds to support abortions, despite the federal Hyde Amendment prohibiting federal funding for abortions since 1976.
The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, representing Catholic bishops’ policy interests, is formulating a response to this complex and significant ruling. This case underscores the ongoing legal and ethical discussions around abortion rights and funding in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
Catholic News Agency reports:
The majority ruling this week found that Pennsylvania’s law barring public funds for most abortions “discriminates against those women who choose to exercise their fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy” and that abortion providers have standing to sue the state over the policy.
The ruling does not immediately change abortion policy in Pennsylvania. Rather, the state Supreme Court ruling sends the case back to the Commonwealth Court for further review. Abortion is presently legal in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks in pregnancy, or later in pregnancy if the life of the mother is at risk.
Seventeen states use public state funds to pay for abortions, despite a federal policy known as the Hyde Amendment that since 1976 has prohibited the use of federal tax dollars to pay for abortion. States that want to pay for abortions through their Medicaid program could do so using their own funds and are not reimbursed by the federal government.
The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which advocates for policy in the state on behalf of the Catholic bishops, said it is working on a formal response to the state Supreme Court’s ruling.
In a brief statement to CNA on Tuesday, Eric Failing, the conference’s executive director, noted that it is “a complex case with a lot of decisions so we are going through it very carefully.”
Read the full article.
Image credit: Photo by Andrew MacDonald on Unsplash
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