CV NEWS FEED // In the lead opinion of a pro-abortion ruling, two Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices argued that the state’s constitution contains a “fundamental right” to “reproductive autonomy.”
The 3-2 decision on Monday overturned a provision of a 1982 state law prohibiting the use of Medicaid taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.
Democrats Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht comprised the three-justice majority. Donohue and Wecht went a step further than Dougherty and interpreted the state constitution to include a “right” to abortion.
“[O]ur privacy jurisprudence is strong and deep,” the two justices opined,
and founded in the basic notion that it is the inherent right of an individual to be let alone — to live a private life, to have security in one’s bodily integrity and to make important decisions free of government intrusion.
“These rights are embedded in the inherent Article I, Section 1 rights to pursue happiness and enjoy liberty and the interrelated Article I, Section 8 right to bodily integrity,” they continued:
The right to make healthcare decisions related to reproduction is a core important right encompassed by the enmeshed privacy interest protected by our Charter. Whether or not to give birth is likely the most personal and consequential decision imaginable in the human experience. Any self-determination is dependent on the right to make that decision.
Drexel University law professor David S. Cohen called the opinion “very strong” and “a great building block to accomplish” the “goal” of enshrining a “right” to abortion in the Pennsylvania Constitution.
The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported:
Cohen [said] the [Pennsylvania] Department of Human Services, which defended the ban in Commonwealth Court, has a very high hurdle to clear to enforce the Medicaid exception. The case will now return to Commonwealth Court to determine whether the state can meet that burden.
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted:
The justices’ messy split sent both the Medicaid funding question and the debate over constitutional protections back to the Commonwealth Court, setting up a heated legal battle over the future of abortion access in Pennsylvania.
The Inquirer pointed out that current Pennsylvania law “permits abortions through the 23rd week of pregnancy.”
Pennsylvania House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-PA, blasted the court’s decision. “[T]oday’s decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is another activist decision that has the court seeking to overstep its authority and change well-settled law,” he stated:
This decision, supported by only part of the seven-member court, eviscerates the past, well-established precedent of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and opens the door for tax dollars to pay for all elective abortions.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is composed of five Democratic justices and two Republicans. Two of the court’s seven justices – one Democratic and one Republican – did not take part in the case, due to how recently they were elected.
