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<\/p>\nPennsylvania\u2019s decades-long fight over abortion access has entered a new phase this week after the state\u2019s Republican attorney general formally appealed a court ruling that struck down a ban on Medicaid\u2011funded abortions and declared abortion a constitutional right under state law.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Dave Sunday filed the appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking it to overturn last month\u2019s decision by the Commonwealth Court that invalidated the state\u2019s decades-old restrictions on using Medicaid funds for abortion care.<\/p>\n
The appeal sets up a high\u2011stakes legal battle over whether the Pennsylvania Constitution not only protects the right to an abortion but also requires the state to ensure that low\u2011income residents can access the procedure via Medicaid coverage. The case, which now heads back to higher courts, could have sweeping implications for abortion policy in Pennsylvania and add to a growing wave of post\u2011Roe litigation, testing how far state constitutional protections extend.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General\u2019s Appeal<\/p>\n
Sunday told Newsweek: \u201cPer the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, the Office of Attorney General has a statutory obligation to defend the Commonwealth\u2019s laws, and\u00a0our notice of appeal\u00a0fulfills that duty with regards to this statute.\u00a0My\u00a0responsibility as Attorney General is to defend the rule of law and defend statutes without interference of personal opinion or political posturing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s filing asks the state\u2019s top court to review the lower court\u2019s conclusions that the Medicaid funding ban is unconstitutional and that abortion is a fundamental right under Pennsylvania\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n
Abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania through 23 weeks of pregnancy, but without Medicaid coverage, cost has become a significant barrier for low-income patients.<\/p>\n
Abortion rights advocates have expressed outrage over the appeal. Signe Espinoza, the executive director of Planned Parenthood PA Advocates, accused Sunday of playing \u201cpolitics with abortion care.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cDefending discrimination in our state constitution is not only cruel; it goes against what the majority of Pennsylvanians want and what our courts have decided.\u201d Newsweek has contacted the Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates for comment via email.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are more than ready to continue fighting for the equality rights Pennsylvanians explicitly voted to enact,\u201d said Elizabeth Lester-Abdalla, a staff attorney for the Women\u2019s Law Project.<\/p>\n
Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro said in 2024 that\u00a0his administration would no longer defend\u00a0the prohibition in the commonwealth\u2019s Abortion Control Act, saying the measure was a \u201cdirect attack on women\u2019s health care and their ability to make decisions about their own bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n
In light of the update, Shapiro\u2019s spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky told Newsweek the governor \u201chas long opposed this unconstitutional ban, and as Governor, he did not defend it\u2014because a woman\u2019s ability to access reproductive care should never be determined by her income. The Shapiro Administration will continue to fight to uphold the Commonwealth Court\u2019s ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A composite image showing Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday and anti-abortion and abortion rights protesters.<\/p>\n
The Commonwealth Court\u2019s Ruling<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s appeal follows an April 20 ruling by the Commonwealth Court<\/a> that struck down Pennsylvania\u2019s long-standing ban on Medicaid funding for most abortions, marking the first time that the right to an abortion was explicitly protected by the Pennsylvania Constitution.<\/p>\n The case has taken various turns over its decades-long history. In 2019, plaintiffs asked the court to order the state\u2019s Medicaid program to begin covering abortions, without restriction, arguing that the 1982 Pennsylvania law restricting state Medicaid funding violated the constitutional equal protection rights of low-income women. Yet, a 2021 lower-court ruling determined the plaintiffs did not have standing and said they were bound by a state Supreme Court\u2019s 1985 decision upholding the 1982 law.<\/p>\n However, in 2024, the Pennsylvania\u00a0Supreme Court overturned the lower court\u2019s ruling\u00a0and also determined that previous court decisions did not fully consider the breadth of state constitutional protections against discrimination beyond those provided by the federal constitution.<\/p>\n Uncertainty Ahead for PA\u2019s Abortion Access<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania Supreme Court could uphold the lower court\u2019s ruling\u2014cementing abortion as a constitutional right and requiring Medicaid coverage\u2014or reverse it, reinstating the funding ban and narrowing the scope of constitutional protections.<\/p>\n As the midterms approach, the future of abortion access<\/a> more broadly in Pennsylvania also hangs in the balance. Shapiro, who is running for reelection in November, said in 2024 that for as long as he was governor, his office would \u201cprotect a woman\u2019s right to choose.\u201d<\/p>\n