McClinton advances bill to empower Pennsylvanians to add reproductive rights to the state Constitution
Rep. Joanna E. McClinton December 22, 2025 | 7:53 AM
HARRISBURG, Dec. 22 – In its final legislative action of 2025, the Pennsylvania House advanced a bill that would give voters a say on enshrining reproductive rights in the state constitution.
On Wednesday, the House passed H.B. 1957 by a narrow bipartisan vote of 102-101. The legislation would allow Pennsylvanians to vote on a proposed Reproductive Rights Amendment to the state constitution.
“A majority of Pennsylvanians support women’s rights to reproductive care, which have been at risk since Roe was overturned in 2022,” said House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Phila./Delaware. “Now the House has acted to protect women’s health care and give Pennsylvanians a voice in ensuring access to reproductive care. Women’s health care should never be a crime, and a woman’s private health decisions should be left to her and her doctor.”
The bill, sponsored by state Reps. Danielle Friel Otten, D-Chester, Liz Hanbidge, D-Montgomery, and La’Tasha D. Mayes, D-Allegheny, proposes a constitutional amendment to reaffirm every Pennsylvanian’s right to privacy and ensure the state cannot deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most personal decisions.
If approved, the amendment would guarantee the right to privacy regarding personal, sexual, and reproductive health care decisions, including the right to choose or refuse an abortion, contraceptives, or fertility care -- without discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or relationship status.
While abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania, access is limited: 85% of the state’s 67 counties lack an abortion provider, forcing some women to travel over 100 miles to reach the nearest clinic.
Since the overturning of Roe, several states have passed constitutional amendments explicitly protecting reproductive health, while others have banned abortion entirely, highlighting the power of voters in shaping reproductive rights protections.
McClinton noted that although 80% of Pennsylvanians oppose criminalizing abortion, access to reproductive health remains a contentious issue in the politically divided legislature. While the House has advanced several reproductive health bills with bipartisan support since gaining the majority in 2023, all have stalled in the Republican-led Senate.
To reach voters, the proposed amendment must pass both legislative chambers in two consecutive sessions without changes to its language. The Senate must act in 2026 for the amendment to advance, after which it would return to the House for a second vote in the 2027–28 session.