The Pennsylvania state Senate will vote today on Senate Bill 3, introduced by Senator Don White (R-11), which would prohibit private insurance plans sold in the Pennsylvania health insurance exchange from covering abortion services, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is endangered. The Senate Banking Committee passed the bill on January 25.
Women’s groups, including Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania and the Women’s Law Project, criticized the bill, which would decrease women’s access to abortion services in Pennsylvania and potentially lead them to seek low-cost, poor quality abortion services . Rebecca Cavanaugh, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood, explained, “A lot of women may be driven to a provider who may not be very good. Women become very desperate in these situations.”
