Representative Leanne Krueger-Braneky (D-Delaware) and Representative Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) held a press call to denounce Republicans efforts lead by Senator Scott Wagner and Senator John Eichelberger to defund Planned Parenthood. Yesterday, SB 300, co-sponsored by Wagner and Eichelberger, passed out of the finance committee and is now headed to the floor of the Senate. This bill would defund Planned Parenthood, which provides health services for over 90,000 Pennsylvanians, and decrease women’s access to birth control, mammograms, and cancer screenings and treatments.
“Harrisburg insider Scott Wagner and his friend Senator John Eichelberger both have an alarming pattern of supporting legislation that will harm Pennsylvania women. Their efforts to defund Planned Parenthood are simply irresponsible and dangerous,” said Representative Madeleine Dean.
“In many medically underserved areas, like rural Pennsylvania, women would have their health care services cut off if Planned Parenthood was defunded,” said Representative Leanne Krueger-Braneky. “And that’s just what Harrisburg politician Scott Wagner wants – to strip women of their health care options and slam the door on their access to care.”
When asked what could replace Planned Parenthood’s services, which include providing birth control and cancer screenings, Scott Wagner was unable to say where women should turn for care if he succeeds in defunding Planned Parenthood.
Just yesterday, Senator John Eichelberger, the prime sponsor of the defund Planned Parenthood bill, admitted that he didn’t know what services Planned Parenthood provides or how much money his bill would save.
Scott Wagner, who is running for governor, is also a co-sponsor of SB 3, which proposes the most extreme restrictions on abortion in the country. This bill criminalizes abortion and prevents women from making their own health care decisions in consultation with a doctor.
Despite opposition from the Pennsylvania Medical Society and legislators on both sides of the aisle, Scott Wagner’s bill was rushed through and passed in the Senate without a public hearing or any input from the medical community.
“Scott Wagner ought to be ashamed of himself for pushing legislation that criminalizes abortion without any input from the public or the medical community and working to defund Planned Parenthood,” said Beth Melena, communications Director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “Scott Wagner is choosing to spend his time defunding Planned Parenthood and pushing the most anti-abortion restrictions in the country. These bills are wrong for Pennsylvania and we cannot afford a governor who does not support women’s rights.”