Republicans in Pennsylvania’s House and Senate rushed a major constitutional amendment through its first phase of legislative approval. It would clear a path for them to dramatically restrict — or even ban — abortion in the commonwealth. From WHYYNews:
Any attempt to amend the Pa. constitution bypasses the governor and goes to a referendum, which often passes easily as it draws little attention at the polls.As the amendment package moved through the legislative process Friday, Democrats expressed outrage. Crowds of protesters could be heard in the background of committee hearings throughout the day, and on the floor, members accused their GOP colleagues of misleading voters about their plans.
“Year after year I sat in this building as we chipped away and chipped away at the rights of Black and Brown folks and other disenfranchised people throughout this Commonwealth,” she said. “We take away the rights of Pennsylvanians with foolishness. Undercover, in the middle of the night, [or] at 6:00 on a Friday.”Republicans rolled it into a package with four other amendments, voting on all of them as a single unit.
“It kind of obscures,” she said. “It gives a lot of political cover to legislators. So it could be valuable for those who might want to vote in favor of it, even if they might be uncomfortable with one or two of [the amendments].” That means the legislature must repeat this process in the next legislative session, which begins in January. The soonest the five amendments in the package could be on the ballot is the May 2023 primary — an off-year election that generally sees low turnout.
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