AS TEXAS ABORTION BAN GOES INTO EFFECT, DO THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR SUPPORT A SIMILAR BAN IN PENNSYLVANIA?

The Texas law is “one of the nation’s most restrictive.” Pennsylvanians deserve to know where the Republican candidates for Governor stand. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Last night, the Supreme Court allowed Texas’ six-week abortion ban to go into effect, essentially prohibiting “nearly all abortions in the state” — even those in cases of rape or incest. The draconian new law would ban abortions before most women know they are even pregnant, and it effectively legalizes medical “bounty hunting,” empowering individuals to sue those who perform abortions for up to $10,000 for each abortion performed. It would even allow someone to sue a Lyft or Uber driver who drives someone to a clinic. As MSNBC legal analyst Julia Ainsley points out, “these are laws stricter than what we have in place for someone who would drive someone who is about to commit an act of terrorism.

In their “super MAGA” primary, the Republican candidates for Governor have embraced far-right positions like extreme abortion bans. Following Texas’ new law, Pennsylvanians deserve to know: if they’re elected Governor, will they support a draconian abortion ban like the one passed in Texas?

Doug Mastriano has introduced a similar six-week abortion ban twice in Harrisburg. Lou Barletta brags that he is “100% pro-life” and in Congress, co-sponsored a heartbeat abortion ban that would outlawed abortions after appromixately six weeks. Dan Meuser said in June that “with the right Governor, Pennsylvania can be the next Texas.” Notably, Bill McSwain has avoided the issue — does he align with Barletta’s “100% pro-life” stance or agree with Mastriano’s six-week ban?

“Pennsylvania Republicans are locked in a race to the bottom, trying to outdo each other by embracing the most far-right policies possible to win over Trump’s MAGA base,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Brendan Welch. “Extremist Republicans in Texas have put in place one of the most restrictive and dangerous abortion bans in the country, and Pennsylvanians deserve to know: will the Republican candidates for Governor embrace that far-right litmus test, too?”

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