SUNBURY – With the Senate’s approval for a new potential abortion bill, a state representative is sharing her opinion on the legislation. The bill would ban elective abortions after 20 weeks, compared to 24 in current law.
Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-108th, Sunbury) explained her support for the bill, “I was a positive vote for that. Basically what it does is changes the abortion time frame from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. The rationale behind that now is, for example, when I had my own son I had to get to 24 weeks before they could save that child. If I was doing the same thing today, they would tell me I have to get to 20 weeks and they could save the life of that child outside of utero. So, we have a situation today where we are giving birth to babies who are living full, healthy lives, but at the same time we’re still aborting them.”
The bill would also criminalize procedures after 20 weeks that cause the deaths of fetuses by removing their body parts, “It ends dismemberment abortion. I think there are seven different countries who still allow dismemberment abortion and there are multiple states in the US that have just allowed it. Dismemberment abortion is basically take a child and skip the step where they keep the life inside the woman’s body and they basically rip the child apart limb from limb and the child bleeds to death in the mother’s uterus before they even perform the abortion. It’s very risky for the mother.”
By ending dismemberment abortion, Culver states the main goal of passing the bill is to keep the mothers safe, “It’s very risky for the mothers, and comes with many complications. If we were doing that to an animal in this country, people would be up in arms. So, we’re just trying to make sure we’re allowing women the access that they need, but we’re doing it safely for them and the minimal pain on the baby inside of them.”
The Pennsylvania Medical Society opposes the bill. The doctors’ group says it interferes with the relationship between physicians and patients, and sets a dangerous precedent by legislating specific treatment protocols. Hearings weren’t held on the bill. Wolf calls it a step back for the state and for women. (Alex Reichenbach)
