Pennsylvania Pro-Life Laws

Following the overturn of Roe, abortion is legal in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for the life of the mother and the “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” Although Pennsylvania was an early proponent of informed and parental consent laws, the state has seen a rising tide of pro-abortion policy in recent years. 

Republicans have narrow control of the State Senate but lost control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 Mid-Term elections. 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices must run in partisan primaries followed by a general election. Justices serve for ten-year terms. The state supreme court is controlled by a pro-abortion majority. There is ongoing litigation in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding whether the state “Hyde Amendment” is unconstitutional. 

Pro-abortion Josh Shapiro was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. During his time as Attorney General, he released a statement in response to the Dobbs decision, calling it “a shameful moment for our country and for the Court.” He committed the “full force of [the] office . . . to protecting legal access to abortion in our Commonwealth” and swore “that if patients travel from [neighboring] states into Pennsylvania, [he] will fight to protect them and their doctors from extreme politicians attempting to illegally interfere.” 

According to AUL’s Unsafe project, Pennsylvania has a regulatory framework in place through the state health department. Abortion businesses have received citations for issues with cleanliness, failing to inform the state after incidents involving patients being sent to the hospital, and improper dosages of medication. 

Pennsylvania’s Pro-Life Laws Across the Spectrum

Americans United for Life advances the human right to life across the spectrum of issues confronting the dignity of the human person. AUL’s comprehensive analysis of Pennsylvania’s state laws on human life span the full spectrum of life issues from abortion, to health and safety protections, to patient informed consent, to conscience rights and bioethics.

Pennsylvania’s Pro-Life Laws Key

	Yes, Pennsylvania has this law and it is enforceable
	Pennsylvania has this law in place, but it is currently not in effect due to litigation
	No, Pennsylvania has no such law in place
	Not Applicable
	To Be Determined

Mother-Child Gestational and Procedural Protections²

States can protect both mother and child by limiting abortion by gestational age or prohibiting gruesome abortion methods. This category also includes life-saving care requirements for a child born-alive after an abortion, and health and safety requirements for a woman undergoing a chemical abortion.

	Gestational protections by age/week for preborn children
	Basic medical care for infant children born alive during attempted abortions
	Partial-birth (D&X) abortion ban
	Dismemberment (D&E) abortion ban
	Telemedicine abortion ban
	Follow up scheduled with patient for abortion pills complications

Prenatal Non-Discrimination (PRENDA) Protections

Increasingly states are enacting laws to protect unborn babies from eugenic abortions based on gender, disability, or race. Some states provide life-affirming resources for families who receive a diagnosis of a possible genetic anomaly like Down syndrome so they know that they’ll be supported.

	Protection against discrimination based on gender
	Protection against discrimination due to prenatal diagnosis
	Protection against discrimination based on race
	State-provided life-affirming resources for parents and families

Informed Consent Laws

Many states require a woman to give informed consent to an abortion, which holds abortion to a similar standard as other medical procedures. These protections include the disclosure of an abortion procedure’s nature and risks, the performance of an ultrasound to date the pregnancy and allow a woman to meet her unborn child if she chooses, and the time for a woman to reflect on this grave decision.

	Basic informed consent for mothers concerning abortion
	Patient signature or written confirmation of informed consent from provider
	Patient is provided state-sponsored informed consent website/information
	Reflection period (24 hours) protecting a mother’s discernment and choice
	An ultrasound is required to give a mother the opportunity to meet their child
	Information on risks of abortion procedure
	Information on the possibility of abortion pill reversal care

Abortion Reporting in Public Health Data

Reporting requirements ensure the government and public have a comprehensive view of abortion in the state when making important public policy decisions. This data includes basic information on instances of abortion, the gestational age of the aborted unborn child, demographics, procedure type, and complications.

	Basic reporting on instances of abortion
	Abortion reporting includes gestational age data
	Abortion reporting includes demographic information
	Abortion reporting includes procedure type
	Complication reporting
	Anonymized/aggregate data is made available to the public
	Anonymized/aggregate data is submitted to the CDC

Parental Rights and Protection of Minors

States protect a minor considering abortion by involving her parents in her life-changing decision, but also provide guidelines for judicial bypass to parental involvement when it is necessary. Other laws included in this section are safe haven laws which create a safe pathway to give up an infant and prevent child abandonment, and the dissemination of information on perinatal hospice to parents of unborn children with fetal anomalies.

	Parental consent before a minor obtains an abortion
	Parental notice of a minor obtaining an abortion
	Judicial bypass limits
	Mandatory reporting of suspected abuse
	Safe haven protections (28 days)
	Perinatal hospice resources

Basic Health and Safety Standards

These laws bring abortion businesses up to the health and safety standards of medical facilities. States may limit both chemical and surgical abortion procedures to physicians, require the physician be licensed by the state, and require emergency transfer agreements or admitting privileges for the physician or the facility to protect a patient if she suffers post-abortion complications.

	Established health and safety standards for abortion businesses
	Basic regulatory inspections for abortion businesses
	Only physicians can perform abortions (all methods)
	Physicians required to be licensed in the state
	Emergency transfer/admitting privilege patient protections
	Physician’s license/credentials are disclosed to patients

Legal Recognition of Human Dignity for Preborn Persons

This section covers the ways states recognize the human dignity of unborn children. States increasingly require dignified disposition of fetal remains, whether from abortion or miscarriage. The law may provide for the issuance of a fetal death or stillbirth certificate. States may also protect the dignity of unborn children by prohibiting fetal experimentation and banning the sale or transfer of human fetal remains.

	Dignified disposition of fetal remains required
	Parents may request dignified disposition
	Human fetal death or stillbirth certificate issued to recognize the life of human persons (20 weeks)
	Sale or transfer of human fetal remains prohibited
	Fetal experimentation banned

Fetal Homicide and Wrongful Death/Life

Fetal homicide laws establish criminal penalties for the death of an unborn child. Wrongful death suits provide a civil cause of action for the death of an unborn child. A prohibition on wrongful life/birth suits affirms that no life is “unwanted.”

	Fetal homicide criminalization
	Fetal homicide law in place from the moment of conception
	Wrongful death suits
	Prohibition on wrongful life/birth suits

Assisted Suicide and Patient Care

These laws protect end-of-life patients from physician-assisted suicide, a practice that exploits vulnerable patients, has little government oversight, and undermines modern medicine. The Life-Sustaining Care Act ensures healthcare professionals may not override a minor patient or her surrogate’s decision to obtain or continue life-sustaining care. States with patient nondiscrimination acts protect patients from age or disability discrimination.

	Assisted suicide prohibition
	Life-sustaining care act
	Patient non-discrimination on the basis of age or disability

Bioethics, Human Cloning, and Embryo Research

As medical technology evolves, states increasingly enact pro-life bioethics policies to reaffirm human dignity and ban cloning. These laws also require ethical medical practices, ban destructive embryo research, and regulate assisted reproductive technology.

	Bans human cloning
	Bans taxpayer funding for human cloning
	Bans destructive embryo research
	Encourages ethical alternatives to embryo research
	Requires informed consent for assisted reproductive technologies
	Regulates egg harvesting

Healthcare Freedom of Conscience

These laws protect the freedom of conscience of healthcare professionals, institutions, and pharmacists against forced participation in assisted suicide and abortion. States also safeguard the conscience rights of healthcare professionals and institutions against unethical medical research.

	Individuals protected against abortion participation
	Public/Private institutions protected against abortion participation
	Pharmacists protected against abortion participation
	Individuals protected against participation in unethical research
	Private/public institutions protected against participation in unethical research
	Individuals protected against participation in assisted suicide
	Private/public institutions protected against participation in assisted suicide
	Pharmacists protected against participation in assisted suicide

Pennsylvania Pro-Life Legislation Tracker

Pennsylvania Abortion Inspection Initiative

Pennsylvania has a regulatory framework in place by which the Pennsylvania Department of Health, through the Health Care Facilities Division, posts inspection reports online.57 Facilities in the state were cited for failing to notify patients after incidents, issues with cleanliness, failing to inform the state after incidents involving patients being sent to the hospital, failing to monitor temperature and humidity levels in procedure rooms, improper dosages of medication, and failing to ensure medical records were properly authenticated. The Philadelphia Women’s Center failed to report three serious event occurrences to the Department. One patient was transferred to a hospital for “cervical [sic] laceration.” A second patient was transferred to the hospital for “suspected perforation [sic].” The third patient was hospitalized for an overdose of Cyototec, an abortion drug, and diagnosed with dissemi- nated intravascular coagulation. In addition, two Planned Parenthood facilities (PPSP Far Northeast Health Center and PPSP Surgical Locust Street Health Center) were cited for failing to make mandatory reports of minor patients under the age of 16, some as young as 13 years old. Both facilities’ internal policies stated that such incidents are “a crime, how- ever it is NOT a mandated reportable incident.” One of the 13-year-old patients reported their age of first intercourse as 11 and another reported their age of first intercourse as 12.

Pennsylvania has a regulatory framework in place by which the Pennsylvania Department of Health, through the Health Care Facilities Division, posts inspection reports online. Health Care Facilities. Pennsylvania Department of Health.

NUMBER OF REPORTS: 135 
DATE RANGE: 2011–2019