Under current Pennsylvania law, health insurance plans purchased through the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority (Pennie) are prohibited from providing coverage for the cost of an abortion, except in cases where the abortion is performed to prevent the death of the mother or if the pregnancy is the result of a rape or incest.
 
Access to health care should not be dependent on your sex. In 2024, the PA Supreme Court sent the case called Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. PA Department of Human Services back to the Commonwealth Court to determine whether the state’s ban on Medicaid abortion coverage is sex discrimination.


Abortion is healthcare. Pennsylvanians should not be prevented from receiving abortion services due to a lack of coverage in their health insurance plan. The news of the past few years has taught us that waiting until a patient is near death to provide necessary health care endangers the woman’s life and future fertility. In some cases, children have lost their mothers because critical health care was denied until it was too late.
 
We must not wait to take action. I plan to introduce legislation that would repeal provisions in Pennsylvania law that prevent coverage for abortions under health insurance plans purchased through Pennie. This legislation would not require health insurance plans to include coverage for abortion services, but rather allow health insurance plans to provide our residents with additional healthcare options.
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 0966: 40-33