HARRISBURG – Senator Doug Mastriano (PA-33) provided the following statement in response to breaking news last night that the U.S. Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade:
“Although the decision will not be final until June and the leaking of this document is unprecedented, it is a good sign that the majority of the justices at this time are inclined to follow the science.
“January 22, 1973 was one of the darkest days in American history. On that day, seven justices of the Supreme Court ruled that the right to life could merely be reduced to a decision of convenience.
“The white nationalist patron of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, used ‘family planning’ to deliberately target minorities. According to recent statistics from the Department of Health, the African American and Latino populations of Pennsylvania suffer more than half of all abortions in the commonwealth despite accounting for only about 18% of our populace.
“Our nation is now on the precipice of reversing this science-denying genocide. Thanks to President Trump, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court is set to right this historic wrong. Since I was elected to the Senate, there has been no more important issue to me than the right to life.
“The Heartbeat Bill was one of the first pieces of legislation that I introduced as a senator in 2019. The legislation requires physicians – before proceeding with an abortion – to determine whether the baby has a heartbeat. If the baby has a heartbeat, the abortion cannot be performed. No person with a beating heart, no matter how small, should be deprived of the fundamental right to life. A beating heart is an unmistakable sign of life. I was proud to reintroduce the Heartbeat bill in 2021 (SB 378), together with Rep. Stephanie Borowicz’s mirror legislation in the House.
“Once the repeal of Roe v. Wade is official, I am calling on the General Assembly to hold a vote on the Heartbeat bill. The time is now for action to protect the rights of the unborn.”