Legislator Wants Pennsylvania Spousal Notification Requirement for Abortion Repealed

A lawmaker from Montgomery County is circulating a request to colleagues to back repeal of a requirement that a married woman seeking an abortion in Pennsylvania notify her spouse. 

In a preliminary description of the upcoming bill, state Representative Liz Hanbidge (D-Blue Bell) bemoaned last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide. Hanbidge insisted that Pennsylvania’s founding principles of freedom and individual sovereignty should empower people to kill unborn life without constraint. 

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Pro-Abortion Legislation Introduced in Pennsylvania House

Democrats in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives recently proposed two bills to guarantee abortion rights in the Keystone State in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s overturning. 

The first measure, sponsored by Reps. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Exton) and Liz Hanbidge (D-Blue Bell) is an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution guaranteeing the right to obtain an abortion, acquire contraceptives or refuse fertility care. 

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Pennsylvania House Republicans Defeat ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

Republicans in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week defeated Democrats’ attempt to pass legislation prohibiting the sale of what they term “assault weapons.”

The bill was introduced last year by then-state Rep. Ed Gainey (D-Pittsburgh) who left his seat earlier this year to become mayor of Pittsburgh. It never received a vote of the House Judiciary Committee, so Democrats moved to suspend House floor rules and record a vote of the full chamber. The legislation failed by a vote of 111 to 87.

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