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Posted on 07/28/2022 11:56:28 AM PDT by lightman
Gov. Tom Wolf is taking the Republican-controlled General Assembly to court over its approval of a proposed constitutional amendment that could lead to erosion of abortion rights in Pennsylvania.
In the lawsuit filed on Thursday in the state’s Supreme Court, Wolf maintains that the state constitution explicitly recognizes a personal right to privacy including the right to terminate a pregnancy.
He claims the proposed amendment violates that right. The abortion-related amendment was included as part of a package of unrelated proposed amendments identified as Senate Bill 106 that received its first airing in a late-night Senate committee meeting on July 7.
“Make no mistake, this is a coordinated effort to take away reproductive rights. Further, Republicans moved Senate Bill 106 with the goal of creating a path toward an abortion ban without public debate and under the cover of night,” Wolf said in a statement. “Today, in the light of day, I am fulfilling my commitment to do everything I can to protect these rights.”
The lawsuit drew a swift response from House Republicans, calling it “another pathetic attempt by a power-hungry administration to subvert the power of the people’s voice in the General Assembly,” said caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman in an emailed statement.
“This lawsuit is not only meritless, but it undermines the ability of the people of Pennsylvania to have a say in how they are governed,” Gottesman continued. “Maybe instead of a lame duck governor wasting taxpayer time and resources in court on a ridiculous legal maneuver, he should spend his final days in office working with, rather than against, the General Assembly to improve our elections, make Pennsylvania more competitive, and further insulate the Commonwealth from their Washington, D.C. allies’-induced recession.
According to the governor’s office, he asserts in the lawsuit packaging that amendment with five others on different issues into a single joint resolution is unconstitutional because it was advanced without allowing all of those proposed amendments being voted separately.
The proposed amendment dealing with abortions would declare that in Pennsylvania there is no right to a taxpayer-funded abortion or guarantee of the right to an abortion. However, as its sponsor Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair County, who sponsored legislation on that proposed amendment, has stressed it does not on its own ban abortions or change Pennsylvania’s current abortion law. But if the amendment is added to the constitution, abortion rights advocates say it could protect future abortion restrictions against legal challenges.
Wolf has vetoed three anti-abortion bills since taking office in 2015.
Constitutional amendments require the General Assembly’s approval in two consecutive legislative sessions before they would go to the voters for an up or down vote. The governor has no veto power in the process.
Because the constitutional amendment process also requires the secretary of state to advertise proposed amendments, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Wolf’s Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman also is being named in the court filing.
“The Republican-led General Assembly continues to take extraordinary steps to dismantle access to abortion and implement a radical agenda,” Wolf said. “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,” Gov. Wolf said. “As long as I remain governor, I will take every step to ensure that abortion remains legal, safe and accessible in Pennsylvania.”
A spokeswoman for Senate Republicans said they are still reviewing the lawsuit.
Other amendments that are part of the joint resolution would allow the gubernatorial nominee select his running mate with party approval instead of allowing voters to make that selection; require voters to produce an identification every time they vote; allow the General Assembly to disapprove executive branch regulations; and authorize the auditor general to regularly audit election results.
Pennsylvania Ping!
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Effing radical. Most of the rest of the world thinks you abortion purists here in the US are immoral and insane.
And I totally agree.
Good for him!! Protecting the right for murdering an innocent human being at the altar of convenience!! Bravo. You useless turd.
Let’s go Tommie the Commie!
“Wolf maintains that the state constitution explicitly recognizes a personal right to privacy including the right to terminate a pregnancy.”
And then there’s the question of the separation of powers thing. The executive branch trying to get the judicial branch to stop the legislative branch from passing laws.
Suing the legislature for doing its constitutional duty and letting the people vote on an issue?!
From the same people that tell you “democracy” is under attack?!
“Wolf maintains that the state constitution explicitly recognizes a personal right to privacy including the right to terminate a pregnancy.”
Hmmmm, I wonder if this “privacy” extends to such thugs as....oh, I don’t know.....maybe personal financial records?
So following the provision in the state constitution for amending the constitution is itself unconstitutional? How does that work?
Seems futile and useless and a waste of time. A governor suing his own legislature? He can veto the act if he doesn’t agree with it. And if he is then overridden by the legislature, well, too bad.
And we all know that the stinking communist bastards would never resort to such political strategies...
Snicker...
It’s an AMENDMENT to the CONSTITUTION.
The people can change their constitution.
This governor is an idiot and has idiot lawyers advising him. But there may be judges that go along with this idiot logic.
I was wondering that too. Not sure he has standing or cause.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-15
To everyone going out of their way to champion abortion: repent now while there is still time. Do not expect that you can do the Devil’s works and not get the Devil’s pay.
It worries me that the Pennsylvania legislature included election reforms in a package with other measures because I believe that the Supremes are about to make legislature bills about elections become law without governors’ signatures.
The General Assembly is basically us, the citizens of Pennsylvania. So Wolf is suing the people.
I also notice that the state constitution authorizes the LEGISLATURE in creating congressional districts in Pennsylvania but that didn’t stop 6 Rat judges from usurping that authority and creating their OWN district maps!
The state constitution also outlines the rules for mail-in ballots but once again the Rat judges unilaterally made their own laws for counting fraud ballots, days before the election was held.
Now tell me, who is destroying democracy?
Wolf is more than a lame duck. He’s yesterday’s duck.
Mastriano is likely the next gov, and he has a list of things he wants to do.
Couldn’t Wolfbane just advocate against ratifying the Amendment, however that’s done in the state of Pennsylvania?
Nice...
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