Federal

 

Pennsylvania's Contribution

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During President Donald Trump's current Administration, the pro-life movement has achieved some significant public policy advances.  Pa.'s principal contributions to these advances has proven to be our decisive role in Dave McCormick's defeat of pro-abortion incumbent, Pa.'s U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. in the November 5, 2024 General Election.

Sen. McCormick's vote proved decisive to the one-vote defeat of the pro-abortion amendment to restore Planned Parenthood (PP) funding in the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB).

 

De-Funding Planned Parenthood

 

To their credit, President Trump and other Administration officials have strongly supported the de-funding of PP - and other abortion committers - through the passage of the BBB and other initiatives.

 

In-Vitro Fertilization

 

To his credit, President Trump has backed off his prior statements to support federal funding for IVF.  Furthermore, as mentioned in the linked article (see below or click here), his Administration is considering federal funding for pro-life and highly effective treatments for infertility.

 

Abortion Drugs

 

The principal negative aspect of the Trump Administration to date has been their failure to enforce existing federal laws regarding sending abortion drugs in the U.S. Mail, as cited in the posted letter from 22 Republican Attorneys General (see below or click here) and revoking the Biden's expansion of the use of these drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol (which the abortion industry slangily refers to as "miffy" and "missy") by

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- expanding their gestational use from 6-10 weeks;

 

- eliminating an in-person visit requirement to rule out an ectopic pregnancy prior to their use; and

 

- eliminating the requirement to report "adverse events" to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and/or state health departments.

 

The basis of the extensive reports, led by the April 28, 2025 report from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (see below or click here), on the harms of these drugs to expectant mothers is a review of ER visit records and insurance reimbursement requests.

The Trump Administration's current failures regarding abortion drugs are significant because about 65% of all abortions in Pa. - and in our nation - are currently committed by chemicals.  HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Food & Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary have only committed to "study this issue."  The drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens now rival PP as the principal committers of abortion in our nation.

The State of Texas is leading on providing an effective pro-life public policy response to chemical abortions.  Their proposed legislation would impose civil liability on the manufacturers and distributors of these drugs for the harms caused by these drugs with an expansive standing to file such lawsuits.

Meanwhile, educational efforts are occurring to alert all our fellow citizens on the potential harms to our nation's water supply of annually flushing approximately 650,000 "fetal remains" into our nation's sewage systems.  I am posting a chart that illustrates these harms (see below or click here).

 

Pennsylvania

 

Governor Shapiro Continues His Intense Support for the Culture of Death

 

Sad to say, but some "conservative commentators" continue to label Gov. Josh Shapiro as a "moderate."  His record is otherwise.  He recently renewed his opposition to legislation protecting female sports in Pa. from male participation.  He recently renewed his participation in a lawsuit to require the Little Sisters of the Poor to fund abortifacient and contraceptive drugs.  I am posting an article that describes his attacks on the Little Sisters (see below or click here).  He is participating in a lawsuit to stop the Trump Administration's efforts to end "gender affirming care."  Finally, he would sign all the bad legislation passed by the Pa. House, which I will soon identify, but is currently stalled in the Pa. Senate.

The only currently announced Republican 2026 candidate for Governor, Pa. Treasurer Stacy Garrity, has taken a pro-life position.  However, her position on the legislative issues that I am about to address needs to be determined and evaluated.

 

Pennsylvania House Democrat Majority Remain Very Harmful

 

The leaders of the 102-101 Democrat Pa. House Majority oppose running any pro-life initiatives.  The only one currently in the House, after passing the Pa. Senate, is the legislation to ban male participation in female sports.

Another piece of pro-life legislation that might be passed by the Senate and sent to the House is to prevent sexual predators from adopting children through surrogacy.  I am posting a disgusting, but accurate, report, with a picture, of this adoption from the Philadelphia Inquirer (see below or click here).

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Bad Legislation Passed by the Pennsylvania House

 

Meanwhile, the Pa. House Democrat Majority, with the support of some Republicans, has passed several pieces of bad legislation.  These include the following.

 

1. The "Equality Act" which would make sexual orientation, gender and gender identity covered by Pa.'s civil rights laws.  Such legislation would eliminate our state's abortion funding restrictions and advance the full "transgender agenda."

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2. H.B.350, which would undermine Pa.'s adoption laws and allow "same-sex couples" to be listed on birth certificates.

 

3. Repeal of Pa.'s 1996 "Definition of Marriage Act" and legalize "same-sex marriage" in Pa.

 

For the interests of the Pa. pro-life movement, the common concern with this and similar legislation is the violation of the principle, Them Before Us.  These words summarize Katy Faust's message and ministry (www.thembeforeus.com) which is that our public policies and private actions should prioritize the very real (and sometimes life or death) needs of children over the emotional needs of adults.  Under the sponsorship of the Pa. Family Institute, Katy delivered an excellent presentation on July 20, 2025 at the Lancaster Bible College.

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Commending the Pennsylvania Senate Leadership

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By two actions after Gov. Shapiro's June 2024 Budget Deal with these leaders, Gov. Shapiro betrayed his promises and made these leaders appear naïve and/or foolish.  These leaders agreed to a $1 billion increase in state funding for public schools in return for a $100 million commitment to a Pa. voucher program for parents of non-public school children.  Gov. Shapiro, by a line-item veto, later eliminated the $100 million for this voucher program.

Gov. Shapiro also agreed with these Senate leaders to provide an approximately $2 million increase in state funding for pregnancy resource centers.  However, after this deal, Gov. Shapiro's Administration issued new guidelines that made most Pa. pregnancy resource centers ineligible for these funds.

However..., to their great credit, these Pa. Senate leaders are refusing to run the previously identified - and other - Culture of Death legislation, most of which would likely pass the Pa. Senate if put to a Floor Vote.

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End-of-Life Issues

 

While I believe that the current developments on beginning of life issues have overall proven positive for the pro-life movement, the developments on end-of-life issues at the national and international levels are proving negative.  Several U.S. States and other nations have legalized "physician assisted suicide" and are attempting to change the legal definition of death to enable the harvesting of organs from still living human beings.  These pro-death challenges are very likely to soon come to Pa.

 

Conclusion

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Thank you for reading these analyses.

Sincerely,

Michael J. McMonagle
President
215-393-3610