PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 4, 2022–Governor Tom Wolf hosted a press conference with the First Lady, members of Planned Parenthood, and other public officials discussing the potential dismantling of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision to protect access to abortion and reaffirmed his stance to protect abortion access in Pennsylvania.
“Today, I am angry,” said Gov. Wolf. “The right to bodily autonomy is under attack.
Overturning Roe v. Wade isn’t about preserving life. It’s about exerting control. I don’t think it’s possible to overemphasize the seismic shift this represents in America’s approach to privacy, to personal autonomy, to health care rights. I stand today–assuring Pennsylvanians that abortion access and reproductive health care will remain legal and safe as long as I am governor.”
Today’s press conference comes on the heels of the United States Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion overturning decades-long rulings protecting abortion access. Since taking office, Governor Wolf has championed abortion access by vetoing three different anti-abortion bills passed by Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and vowed to veto the rest.
Additionally, yesterday, Governor Wolf joined 16 governors across the nation to call for immediate passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect access to abortion across the country and take any additional or necessary steps to codify protections under Roe. The Women’s Health Protection Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives last September but has not yet passed the U.S. Senate.
“First and foremost, let’s be clear: Abortion is still safe and legal. Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania (PPSP) is still providing abortion care,” said Teresa White Walston and Rachel Copen, the Acting Co-Executive Directors of WOAR, joined together to speak. Walston started by giving thanks to those who have supported WOAR to help them become the organization they are today. “On behalf of our Board of Directors, our staff, our volunteers, and on behalf of all the thousands of people that your support here is shown for, we say thank you for being here at our 5th Annual ‘Hands Around City Hall’ event. We’re also grateful for all the partners in Philadelphia that work with us. I want to make a note regarding Mayor Kenney–he’s not just a supporter of WOAR, he is a supporter of all victim-survivors in the City of Philadelphia. For that, we’re grateful to have that kind of leadership in this City. We have an awesome team of clinical, education, and outreach staff, and we have been led again by a board that cares about this issue. We want to also say thank you to some of our partners who showed up today to lend their support for us.”
To conclude their remarks, Rachel Copen gave an important statistic hoping that people understood the severity of sexual assault. “Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. That is over 1200 a day. That’s over 400,000 a year. These statistics come from those who were able to report the crime–it does not include all survivor experiences that also deserve recognition. Today, we are here to honor survivors, hold them in our hearts, celebrate their strength and resilience, share in their grief, and marvel in their talents and love,” said Copen.
After Walston and Copen finished speaking, everyone formed a circle in solidarity around the City Hall Courtyard to engage in a moment of silence to honor the survivors of sexual assault.
