Pennsylvania legislators introduce heartbeat bill to Senate and House

Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced House Bill 1977, a “heartbeat” bill that would require all abortionists to check for a preborn child’s heartbeat before committing an abortion. If a heartbeat is found, the abortion could still be committed if the mother’s health is at risk. However, thousands of medical professionals agree that the direct and intentional killing of a child through abortion is never medically necessary.

“There’s something really wrong here,” said Sen. Doug Mastriano who introduced the legislation with Rep. Stephanie Borowicz. “Something nefarious is going on. We turn our backs on the most vulnerable; those who don’t have a voice. And let them be massacred in the womb. We’re talking about the stats of the federal government 60 million abortions since Roe v. Wade was legalized in the ’70s.”

READ: South Carolina advances bill to protect preborn babies after detectable heartbeat

The bill does not include exceptions for rape or incest, which was supported at the news conference by keynote speaker and political commentator Kathy Barnette, who shared the story of her conception. “I had nothing to do with the conditions that brought me into existence and yet there I was, being wonderful and fearfully woven together in my mother’s womb,” she said of her mother’s rape. “I was a human, I was a person, I was not some inanimate object.”

The bill does include an exception for the mother’s health. Health, however, has a very wide definition when it comes to abortion, and can include a woman’s financial health, familial health, and emotional health. Thousands of doctors have attested to the fact that abortion is never medically necessary as it is faster and safer to perform an emergency C-section than commit a three-day-long abortion procedure.

 

 

Pennsylvania law currently allows abortion up to 24 weeks gestation, despite the fact that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived with medical assistance.

Pennsylvania pro-abortion Governor Tom Wolf has vowed to veto the bill if it passes. He took to Twitter to say: “Let me be clear: I will veto any abortion ban that is put on my desk.” In a separate tweet, he replied to a Newsweek tweet that said, “Pennsylvania could be the next state to ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.” Wolf responded, “Correction: Pennsylvania will NOT be the next state to ban abortion because I will VETO this bill. #StopTheBans”

The heartbeat bill in both the state Senate and House will head to committee for hearings before a vote.

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