Gov. Tom Wolf sues GOP-led General Assembly over abortion amendment
HARRISBURG (KDKA/AP) - Gov. Tom Wolf is suing the Republican-led General Assembly for what he calls an unconstitutional attempt to ban abortion in Pennsylvania.
A proposal to have voters decide whether to add a provision to the Pennsylvania Constitution to say it does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions passed the Legislature earlier this month and could be on the ballot next spring.
"The Republican-led General Assembly continues to take extraordinary steps to dismantle access to abortion and implement a radical agenda," Wolf said in a news release. "Frustrated that their legislation may face my veto pen again, they instead loaded multiple unrelated constitutional amendments into a joint resolution and rammed the bill through during the budget process."
Legislative Republicans have increasingly been turning to the constitutional amendment process to get around the veto of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. It allows them to advance policy changes with a simple majority and makes them much harder to reverse.
In the court filing to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Wolf said the state constitution explicitly recognizes a personal right to privacy, which includes the right to end a pregnancy.
In the lawsuit, Wolf said packaging the unrelated amendments as one is also unconstitutional because lawmakers advanced the proposed amendments without voting on each one separately.
The bill also contains proposed constitutional amendments to require voter ID, have gubernatorial candidates choose their own running mates, empower lawmakers to cancel regulations without facing a governor's veto and establish election audits. Lawmakers voted them as a package, but voters would consider them individually.
House Republican spokesman Jason Gottesman said Wolf's lawsuit lacked merit and was an attempt to "subvert the power of the people's voice in the General Assembly."
The proposal still needs another round of passage in both chambers in the legislative session that starts in January, and supporters hope to get it before voters for a referendum during the 2023 spring primary.
Wolf vowed to keep abortion legal as long as he's governor, but he's constitutionally barred from running for another term this year.