THE WOLF WAY

Fears grow over abortion rights after Wolf’s exit

Pro-choice advocates worry his replacement may go the opposite way.

By Justin Sweitzer

WHEN GOV. TOM WOLF leaves office in 2023 after eight years as Pennsylvania’s chief executive, his legacy will be marked not just by the bills that he signed into law, but also by the ones that he rejected. A former Planned Parenthood volunteer, Wolf will be remembered for his unabashed support of abortion rights – turning away bill after bill that would have restricted access to abortions.

Supporters of abortion access have heralded Wolf as a key defender of the right to choose amid efforts from legislative Republicans to ban abortions. But now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to block a Texas law banning most abortions in the state, abortion-rights advocates in Pennsylvania are fearful that the court’s conservative majority could jeopardize longstanding abortion precedent. That, coupled with Wolf’s impending departure, could result in a perfect political storm that leads to a drastic rollback of abortion rights. And that has some advocates worried.

Since first taking office in 2015, Wolf has fended off attempts from lawmakers to curtail access to abortions in Pennsylvania. In 2017, he vetoed Senate Bill 3, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks and did not include exceptions for victims of rape or incest. In 2019, Wolf turned away a bill from state Rep. Kate Klunk that would have banned abortions made on the basis of a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis.

And just last year, he vetoed a bill establishing telemedicine regulations because it would have barred health care providers from prescribing drugs used to induce abortions.

In an interview with City & State, Wolf said his devotion to protecting access to abortion was born from the idea that politicians shouldn’t dictate decisions made between a patient and their doctor.

“I don’t think politics has any place in the doctor’s office,” Wolf said. “I think the position that I and other pro-choice folks take is simply that nature has burdened all of us with a very difficult decision here. The question is not whether we have a choice to make – we do. The question is who’s going to make that choice. And it strikes me that the person who ought to make that choice, who knows most about what’s going on, is the person most directly involved and that’s the woman.”

With a little over a year left in office, Wolf and advocates who support abortion access view the governor’s looming exit as bittersweet. On one hand, Wolf has been a crucial backstop who has steadfastly supported their cause. The other side of the coin, however, reveals an uncertain political landscape in Harrisburg that will be guided by who wins the governor’s office in 2022.

“Wolf’s veto pen has stopped multiple attacks on abortion access in Pennsylvania,” said Signe Espinoza, the interim executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylva-

The governor has cemented his legacy as a fierce defender of a woman’s right to choose.

nia Advocates. “Without that commitment to block all the anti-abortion attacks we’ve seen, barriers to accessing care would be much harder than they already are for most people in the state.” That’s not to say Wolf doesn’t have his critics. Anti-abortion advocates feel that Wolf’s firm stance on protecting abortion access fails to factor in the lives of unborn babies. Dan Bartkowiak, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a conservative nonprofit that recently organized Pennsylvania’s first “March For Life” event, said Wolf’s views on abortion are “extreme” and “out of touch.” Bartkowiak accused Wolf of doing “the bidding of Planned Parenthood” and criticized the governor for vetoing Klunk’s legislation that would have banned abortions on the basis of a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis. Bartkowiak said Wolf has advocated for “abortion at all stages, without restriction” throughout his two terms. “I think that’s just very extreme and out of touch with Pennsylvanians’ values,” Bartkowiak said.

Wolf had a different view. He said his vetoes represent a determined effort to defend abortion access, and said that once his time in office reaches an end, he wants Pennsylvanians to remember one thing: “That I was the one who held fast.”

Despite their ideological differences, Wolf, Espinoza and Bartkowiak all agreed that 2022 will be a pivotal year for the future of abortion access.

Espinoza said control of the executive branch will determine the direction that abortion policy takes. “We’re quite literally one election away from essentially becoming Texas,” she said.

The new Texas law, signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, prohibits abortions from being performed if cardiac activity can be detected in the womb. That activity can typically be detected around six weeks gestation, making the Texas law one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.

The new statute also includes a mechanism for citizens to file civil actions against anyone who performs, induces, aids, abets or pays for an abortion.

In stark contrast to Wolf, Abbott has made outlawing abortions a focal point of his legislative agenda since taking office. In his State of the State address in February, Abbott vowed to protect unborn children from abortions, saying the state needed “a law that ensures that the life of every child will be spared from the ravages of abortion.”

Abbott got the law he was looking for in Senate Bill 8, which he promptly signed into law. It took effect in September, with the Supreme Court declining block the law from going into effect – a decision that worried supporters of abortion access, who fear that the lack of action by the high court may be a sign of how it may rule on an upcoming case centered around Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.

But where some see a dangerous precedent, others see opportunity.

The developments in Texas have reignited a nationwide conversation about abortion policy, and with a gubernatorial race on the horizon, anti-abortion advocates in Pennsylvania see a chance to re-write Pennsylvania’s abortion laws in the nottoo-distant future.

State lawmakers in Harrisburg have repeatedly introduced bills that would ban abortions once a heartbeat is detected in the womb. The most recent versions of those bills have been sponsored by state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz and state Sen. Doug Mastriano, the latter of whom has been rumored to have an interest in running for governor in 2022.

Other Republican candidates that have formally declared their candidacy – including former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, political strategist Charlie Gerow and attorney Jason Richey – have pledged to support more conservative abortion policies if elected.

Having a conservative in the governor’s mansion would change the political calculus in Harrisburg in a significant way, meaning past attempts to restrict abortion access could find new success.

“This issue is going to have a significant impact on the upcoming election,” Bartkowiak said. “Obviously, having someone that more recognizes the humanity of the unborn is going to help save lives and help more in Pennsylvania.”

With Republicans in control of both chambers of the General Assembly, the

political support is there to get more restrictive abortion policies passed. House Speaker Bryan Cutler and Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward have both expressed their support for advancing such legislation.

But Wolf is hopeful his successor will share his stance on abortion. Attorney General Josh Shapiro is rumored to run for governor, and while he hasn’t announced his candidacy yet, he has pledged to defend abortion access at every turn.

The race to replace Wolf is still in its infancy, and while there will be plenty of disagreements and political battles along the way, it’s clear that the future of the state’s abortion laws will be a major focal point among gubernatorial candidates in 2022.

”[Remember] I was the one who held fast.”

–Gov. Tom Wolf

Epel iniet ipsuntestrum volorerunt. Otas et et dolutat emporumet et restis rernamusam laut eium

How the senator from the Meadowlands toppled the status quo.

By Harrison Cann Possible

JUSTIN SWEITZER T HE PAST YEAR has presented countless challenges to Pennsylvanians across the state. For state Sen. Kim Ward, the challenge of taking over as Senate Majority Leader came with a twist.

Just two weeks after being elected the Republican caucus leader and becoming the first woman in the commonwealth’s history to serve as Senate majority leader, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Are you kidding me?” was her first thought, Ward said. “How am I going to navigate all of this?”

After four chemotherapy treatments in early spring, Ward disclosed her diagnosis in May. She said her routine checkup was scheduled for February 2020, right as the COVID-19 pandemic forced elective procedures and appointments to be delayed. When she got the results of her mammogram in November of last year, she was diagnosed in stage 1. Any later, and the results could’ve been direr.

Ward underwent a lumpectomy after receiving her diagnosis, and following the passage of the state budget in June, she had a prophylactic mastectomy and her ovaries removed. Throughout the spring session and summer meetings, Ward didn’t miss a single day of work.

“Any weaker person would have resigned and said this is too much to handle,” said Joe Scarnati, friend of Ward and former lieutenant governor and president pro tempore. “Kim Ward’s ability to man-

age her own personal life and continue the public commitment is nothing short of amazing … She is tough as nails.” Ward developed a reputation as a public servant in western Pennsylvania, but that wasn’t always her plan. She told City & State she originally wanted to be a respiratory therapist. While working at Vanderbilt University Hospital in the 1980s at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, she saw someone else turn their grim situation into political action. Ward and fellow hospital employees were concerned that not everyone had access to patients’ charts when treating them. Dr. Hacib Aoun, whom Ward knew, contracted AIDS when a glass tube holding a blood specimen shattered and cut his finger. From that point on, Aoun became a staunch advocate for the rights of infected health care workers and urged compassion for AIDS patients. He succumbed to the virus in 1992. “He was before Congress. He was doing all the national talk shows and it just kind of got me off my butt to say, ‘Our government needs to respond to this and they need to listen,’” Ward said. “It just really lit a fire under me and a passion and I have been active in one way or another ever since.” That flame has been burning ever since, and it inspired her legislation allowing first responders to be alerted to confirmed Kim Ward made COVID-19 cases at the address where they history last year when she became the first were responding during the height of the pandemic. Possible female elected floor leader. Her journey took a stark turn just weeks later.

Ward hit the ground running once back in her home state. She started as a volunteer for the Republican Party in Westmoreland County and served as county chair for Rick Santorum’s Senate campaign in 1994. From that experience, Ward learned how to lay her cards on the table and tell people what she thinks.

“You can agree or disagree with that guy, but he never would tell anybody anything just because it’s what they wanted to hear,” Ward said. “He is a ‘what you see is what you get’ official and I really loved that.”

From there, Ward went on to help other campaigns before taking on her own. She won an election as a Hempfield Township supervisor in 2001, and in 2007 she ran for Westmoreland County commissioner, becoming the first woman elected as county commissioner there in more than three decades. Just a few months into her time as a commissioner, the 39th Senatorial District seat opened up.

Ward said many people are afraid of running for office but that the worst thing that can happen is you lose, which happens to everyone.

“I can compare it to the question: Is it ever a good time to get pregnant?’ It’s never a perfect time to put your face out on a billboard and have people throw eggs at it, but if you have a passion and you want to do it, do it,” she said.

The fear subsided and the confidence came out, and Ward was making good impressions among her Republican colleagues.

“I was impressed immediately with her charisma and her political prowess,” Scarnati said. “She really turned the tide for western Pennsylvania. Her win cemented that Republican district.”

Once established in Harrisburg, Ward made a name for herself as an advocate of families and children. Among her many legislative accomplishments, Ward said her effort to reform child abuse laws and provide greater protections for children was her most significant. Most notably, Senate Resolution 250 of 2012 created the Child Abuse Protection Taskforce to examine and analyze laws affecting the state’s child welfare system.

That title is under question by some child advocates now, however, as they continue to call on Ward to pass legislation giving child sex abuse victims a window to sue their predators. Advocates have fought for a change in the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims in the state for years. Just as commonwealth voters were set to vote on a constitutional amendment to create a retroactive window for victims to sue their abusers, the Department of State failed to properly advertise the amendment and the state is back at square one.

The ongoing saga has cast a shadow over her time as majority leader. Advocates of child sex abuse victims are now pushing for Ward to pass House Bill 951, which would create a two-year civil liability window for victims to take their abusers to court. Ward is criticized for not prioritizing this, but she says the bill is not the best way to rectify the situation. She argued that another constitutional amendment has the strongest path and that the proposed legislation could open up the state to a flood of retroactive lawsuits.

“I think it’s a slippery slope because you do this for one issue, the statute issue, and next time somebody wants to go after an employer or a school for something else,” Ward said. “I really think we need to do this the right way, and if it goes to the ballot in 2023 and it passes, it’s over.”

Ward says many are afraid of running for office, but the worst thing that can happen is that you lose, which happens to everybody.

“She has a motor on her that is unrivaled.”

–State Sen. Joe Pittman

The issue involving victims of child sex abuse is not the only controversy hanging over the Senate’s head. As the General Assembly returned to session this fall, Republicans renewed their efforts to conduct a “forensic investigation” of the 2020 and 2021 elections. Ward and Senate Republicans are facing harsh criticisms for their efforts to subpoena the private information and records of Pennsylvania voters.

Ward has said, “the election audit in Pennsylvania is not about Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It’s about the distrust in our election process among voters.”

Ward’s political moves may be questioned now, but her work during the pandemic has been commended by her colleagues. And with the news of her battle with cancer coinciding with the pandemic response, that hard work is even more admirable.

“Given all the massive issues we had in front of us, to do it in a way that brings confidence to our colleagues, we’re in good hands with her,” state Sen. Joe Pittman told City & State. “She has a motor on her that is unrivaled.”

Ward’s intensity and pragmatic approach are what helped her gain a good standing among her Republican colleagues. When the departures of Mike Turzai and Scarnati in 2020 created openings in leadership, many knew Ward was the right fit.

Scarnati said Ward showed her strength to him early on when they had a disagreement over policy. “I’d rather have my wife mad at me than Kim Ward,” he said. “She stood her ground to the pro tempore and that shows some courage.”

After Ward won the election as majority leader, she said it didn’t hit her that she was the first female floor leader in the General Assembly’s 244-year history. When a reporter asked how it felt to be in that position, Ward said, “Oh, I am a female, and I am a senator.” Ward said she began to receive calls from women across the country, and it was at that point she came to terms with the job at hand. The cancer diagnosis two weeks later didn’t make it easier, but that didn’t stop her. She said she didn’t tell anyone about her diagnosis besides close staff because it was business as usual.

“I didn’t want anybody considering that as we move forward trying to get our job done. So it made it easier to not have that hanging over my head and having folks constantly worrying about me,” she said. “I also managed to keep my hair, so that made it even harder to realize that I was going through some stuff.”

Scarnati applauded Ward for not letting her health issues get in the way of her duties. “I can tell you from experience that the job is demanding on you mentally and physically,” he said. “Let’s not forget she’s still a mother, grandmother, and a wife, and I don’t think she shirked those duties at all, either.”

Now, Ward has become a vocal advocate for breast cancer awareness. This fall, she’s working with the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and WellSpan to launch a statewide initiative promoting early detection for breast cancer. The partnership will also bring mobile mammogram vans and free exams to areas around central Pennsylvania.

“To be able to take her personal challenges and turn them into a positive – she’s become a tireless advocate for breast cancer awareness and a support network for others who are going through it. To me, that just speaks to the person,” Pittman said.

Kim Ward and her colleagues celebrate the passage of Senate Bill 445, which benefits the PA Breast Cancer Coalition.