Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said this week that he will veto a bill that prohibits brutal dismemberment abortions and later-term abortions after 20 weeks.
The measure, Senate Bill 3, passed a state Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and moves to the full state Senate for a vote.
The bill would make it illegal to cause “the death of an unborn child by means of dismembering the unborn child and extracting the unborn child one piece at a time from the uterus through the use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors or similar instruments.” It also would push back the legal abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks, reflecting how modern technology has been able to save premature babies at earlier stages of development.
Wolf, who has close ties to the abortion industry, claimed the bill is an “assault on women’s right to choose.” Fox 43 News reports Wolf announced Monday that he will veto the bill.
“It’s wrong, it’s unconstitutional, it flies in the face of everything I stand for, and I will veto it,” the governor said.
“Over the last two weeks, millions of women have marched all across the country to make it clear to politicians that they want to retain control and the freedom to make their own health care decisions. This flies in the face of that. It does one thing and that is — it eliminates a woman’s right to make choices as to her own health care,” Wolf continued.
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The announcement comes as no surprise from the pro-abortion governor. Wolf has close ties to Planned Parenthood and appointed one of the abortion group’s board members as his chief of staff. He also volunteered for the abortion chain and received strong support from it during his election campaign.
Maria Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, said about 1,550 babies are killed in Pennsylvania every year in dismemberment abortions.
“Tearing a baby limb by limb from a mother’s womb is a cruel and unconscionable practice that should be banned,” Gallagher said.
She said a recent poll found strong support for the measure among Pennsylvanians, with 61 percent supporting a ban on dismemberment abortions.
“While both women and men approved of the ban, the level of support was actually higher among women—64 percent of PA women want to see an end to brutal dismemberment abortions in the Commonwealth,” Gallagher added.
A vote in the Pennsylvania Senate is expected soon.
A handful of states also have passed dismemberment abortion bans, which are the brainchild of the National Right to Life Committee.
The bill also is modeled, in part, after the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which 16 states have passed into law. The bill prohibits later-term abortions after 20 weeks as medical advancements push the line of viability earlier in pregnancy and as substantial medical evidence indicates unborn babies at this stage are capable of experiencing pain.
ACTION: If you are a resident of Pennsylvania, call your state Senator and urge him or her to support Senate Bill 3. Find your state legislators here: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/#address . Also, contact Governor Wolf here.
