ICYMI: Abortion is on the Ballot in the Pennsylvania AG Race

October 29, 2024

Dem candidate for AG says abortion is constitutional right, GOP opponent repeatedly refused to say if he would protect abortion rights

Washington, DC – With one week to go until Election Day, the stakes continue to rise in the Pennsylvania Attorney General race – especially when it comes to abortion access. While Democratic AG candidate Eugene DePasquale will prioritize protecting abortion rights through the state’s constitution, his far-right extremist opponent Dave Sunday has refused to answer basic questions about abortion access.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, “Sunday does not believe Pennsylvania’s constitution guarantees residents the right to an abortion, he said during a debate earlier this year.”

The article continues,“…the General Assembly has some powers it can take on its own…For example, in 2022, when Republicans controlled both chambers, they advanced a constitutional amendment that would clearly define there is no right to an abortion in Pennsylvania.”

It’s clear Sunday would put abortion rights in danger as PA Attorney General.

But to DePasquale, abortion rights would be protected in the state and he would have an “expansive view of the Pennsylvania law.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, “To DePasquale, a former state auditor general, abortion access is a constitutional right in Pennsylvania under the state’s Equal Rights Amendment and its equal protections provisions. He has vowed to do everything he could to protect that right.

“The issue is personal to DePasquale: His wife, Tracey, found out she had an ectopic pregnancy at the 10th week of gestation, putting her at risk of death or the inability to have children if she did not get an abortion…DePasquale has made it a point to promise that he would not prosecute any woman or doctor for an abortion at the request of other states…”

The article concludes, “In addition, attorneys general nationwide continue to play defense on which federal policies go into effect in their states, so Pennsylvania’s next attorney general would likely weigh in on any future federal abortion laws.

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