By Chris Walker
This article was originally published by Truthout
The law essentially banned abortions for people with lower incomes who rely on state help for medical services.
Earlier this week, a Pennsylvania-based appellate court ruled that a state law banning the use of public funds for abortions was unconstitutional, as it improperly restricted residents with lower incomes who receive state health care services, such as Medicaid.
Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania, with the state restricting the practice after 24 weeks of pregnancy. However, the Pennsylvania law essentially banned abortion for people with lower incomes who depend on state support for medical care.
The 4-3 ruling from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania was issued on Monday. The court is directly below the state Supreme Court, which means it could be appealed in the future.
For now, however, abortion rights proponents are celebrating the ruling, which overturns restrictions imposed by the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982. That law prevented the use of public funds to provide abortions, except in limited cases classified as emergencies.
Exceptions for emergencies are oftentimes difficult to attain, as hospitals and providers are wary of potentially crossing the legal line — even if they think a patient needs an abortion — due to the vague language of state laws.
Medical providers, including several Pennsylvania state-based chapters of Planned Parenthood, challenged the law in 2019, and, after several years of legal dispute, the case finally made it to the Commonwealth Court this year.
The law is unenforceable, the majority of judges on the court found, as it violated the Equal Rights Amendment and other equal protection provisions of the Pennsylvania state constitution “beyond any genuine dispute of fact.” The majority also recognized that those provisions guarantee “a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy.”
“Recognizing this fundamental right … is necessary to restrict state government to its proper sphere, thus protecting our liberty,” wrote Judge Matthew S. Wolf, who authored the majority opinion.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who decided his office would not defend the law in the court battle, lauded the ruling.
“I’ve long opposed this unconstitutional ban, and as Governor, I did not defend it — because a woman’s ability to access reproductive care should never be determined by her income,” Shapiro said in a statement.
Susan Frietsche, executive director of Women’s Law Project and part of the legal team, also praised the decision, stating:
The Commonwealth Court today recognizes that the guarantees of equality in our state Constitution would be a hollow promise if women and birthing people did not possess the ability to control their destiny. Today, the Court recognizes that the right to reproductive autonomy is the right to self-determination.
In a joint statement from regional Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood chapters, which were part of the lawsuit against the law, the providers said they recognized an appeal could be coming soon.
“For decades, Pennsylvania has had a two-tier system for reproductive health care: abortion access for those who can pay, and a ban for those who can’t. While we wait to see the next legal steps this case takes, we will be celebrating,” those chapters said in their statement.
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