The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade opens the door for individual states to ban or severely restrict abortion and leaves individuals in need of abortion care or other reproductive healthcare to travel to states like Pennsylvania, where those services remain legal.

States where abortion is restricted or banned have already signaled their intent to seek criminal or civil action against out-of-state reproductive healthcare providers—including nurses—who provide services that would be illegal in the patient’s home state, leaving these providers vulnerable to penalties that could limit or revoke their ability to practice.

For this reason, we are introducing legislation to ensure that nurses are protected from having their license or application for licensure penalized for providing reproductive health services including contraception, emergency contraception, and abortion or abortion-related services to a person who resides in a jurisdiction outside Pennsylvania where such services would be illegal.

Please join us in protecting our healthcare providers and preserving access to essential reproductive healthcare services in our commonwealth.

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 0817: P.L.317, No.69