The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decided 6-1 in favor of the state's 1982 Abortion Control Act, which bans the state from using taxpayer funding to cover abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
In the majority opinion for the case, Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt wrote that the court decided to adhere to the 1985 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision supporting the law. Additionally, she wrote that abortion businesses did not have the legal standing to challenge the law on behalf of Pennsylvania women.
Notably, the plaintiffs charged that Pennsylvania's abortion coverage ban violated Pennsylvania's Equal Rights Amendment. They argued that because abortion is only sought by women, a funding ban discriminates against women. This serves as further proof that pro-abortion advocates would attempt to use a federal Equal Rights Amendment to require abortion funding nationwide from a constitutional level.
