Pennsylvania has the lowest minimum wage and one of the highest rates of pregnancy discrimination complaints in the country, and a bill to provide reasonable accommodations for lactating employees so they can continue breastfeeding after returning to work is still gathering dust amid a baby formula shortage crisis.
Nonetheless, Pennsylvania lawmakers in charge of advancing legislation have chosen to prioritize depriving us of bodily autonomy instead of addressing any real problems.
Anti-abortion Constitutional Amendment Senate Bill 956
We expect the Pennsylvania Senate will vote on the anti-abortion constitutional amendment Senate Bill 956 on Tuesday, June 7 (though possibly Wednesday). This is the amendment that would pave the way to banning abortion in Pennsylvania.
We know many action alerts seem to arrive last minute and sometimes the votes don’t happen when scheduled. Please know that scheduling and changing the voting calendar last minute is a strategic decision intended to make it harder for advocates to express opposition and watch the debate.
It’s frustrating but in this case, you should be expressing opposition to SB 956 as frequently as possible. Constitutional amendments have to pass both chambers twice, and we all have to fight it every step of the way.
Anti-Trans Sports Bill House Bill 972
Sadly, five female cisgender Pennsylvania lawmakers have chosen to serve national special interests by exploiting vulnerable children instead of protecting them by promoting Pennsylvania House Bill 972, which seeks to police kids’ bodies to restrict their athletics participation.
HB 972 passed out of the Pennsylvania House by a vote of 115 – 84 back in April. Next, it will be up for a vote in the Senate. A vote may take place this week.
The sponsors of HB 972 are hosting a press conference about the bill at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, June 7. If you plan to watch, be warned that in addition to ignoring evidence of Title IX violations while using gender equity in athletics as cover for anti-LGBTQ legislation, the bill’s supporters have repeatedly used hostile, harmful language families and supporters of transgender kids would find distressing.
Take Action
Please contact your Pennsylvania Senator and Senate leadership and express your opposition to SB 956. You can do that easily by email here.
Please contact your Pennsylvania Senator and urge them to vote NO on HB 972.
Our country is in crisis. Our senators should spend resources addressing real problems facing Pennsylvanians, not obsessing over depriving women and LGBTQ people of bodily autonomy.
Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond. As a non-profit organization, we can not do this work without you. Please consider supporting our work.
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