Dec. 12, 2017
HARRISBURG – Legislation originally sponsored by Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren/Crawford/Forest) to update Pennsylvania’s quarter-century-old Abortion Control Act to reflect major advances in science, medical technology and health care (
Senate Bill 3), was approved in the Pennsylvania House today by a strong bipartisan margin of 121-70.
“Now, more than 40 years after Roe v. Wade, and a president in the Oval Office who fully understands the gravity of appointing pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, passage of this legislation acknowledges what we’ve known from science and countless true stories,” said Rapp, who serves as majority chair of the bipartisan House Pro-Life Caucus. “The unborn child has the capability of sensing pain by 20 weeks gestation. This bill recognizes that if advances in medicine are allowing thousands of micro-preemies—at 20 to 24 weeks—to survive and thrive, that our laws must change to accurately reflect the sanctity of all human life.”
Senate Bill 3 would prohibit abortions after five months of pregnancy, in recognition of these important medical advances, and the fact that health risks to the mother significantly increase after 20 weeks of pregnancy. At 21-plus weeks, a mother is 91 times more likely to die from an abortion than in the first trimester. In addition, Senate Bill 3 would end the gruesome practice of dismemberment abortion which involves tearing a baby limb from limb, and resulting in an inhumane and likely slow and painful death.
“In the year 2017, when Pennsylvania hospitals are leading our nation in performing dramatic, life-preserving surgeries for the most fragile of lives, we must finally end the inhumane practice of dismemberment abortions,” said Rapp. “It is indisputable that the later in pregnancy an abortion occurs, the riskier it is for the mother and the more painful it is for the unborn child. All Pennsylvania mothers and their unborn children deserve far better than current law.”
Senate Bill 3 is now on the way to the governor’s desk. Currently, only six other countries (two of them being China and North Korea) join the United States in permitting elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. If Senate Bill 3 becomes law, Pennsylvania would become the ninth state in the nation to outlaw dismemberment abortions.
“This historic legislation would finally bring Pennsylvania law in line with the latest medical advances in health safety for women, the viability of the child in the womb, and his or her ability to feel pain,” said Rapp. “I urge the governor to cease flaunting his support for Planned Parenthood, an organization that is presently under investigation by the FBI for selling aborted babies’ body parts for profit, and reconsider his previous pledges to veto Senate Bill 3. The governor’s final decision is ultimately a choice between life or death for countless innocent, unborn children and the health and well-being of their mothers.”
Representative Kathy Rapp
65th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ty McCauslin
RepRapp.com /
Facebook.com/RepRapp