Pennsylvania AG appeals court ruling forcing taxpayer-funded abortions

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has filed an appeal against a court ruling that found the state could not prohibit Medicaid-funded abortions.

Key Takeaways:

• Last month, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that the state could not prohibit Medicaid from covering abortions.

• Abortionists sued the state to have a law barring Medicaid-funded abortions overturned, and pro-abortion Governor Josh Shapiro refused to defend it.

• The state's Attorney General, Dave Sunday, has now appealed the ruling.

The Backstory:

In April, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that the state's ban on taxpayer-funded abortion is unconstitutional. In the 4-3 ruling, the court justices determined that Pennsylvania's constitution includes a 'right' to abortion, and that, therefore, a 1982 state ban on Medicaid-funded abortions was unconstitutional.

In their decision, the justices cited the state's Equal Rights Amendment, which they said "guarantees a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy," and that so-called right means Medicaid must cover abortion procedures.  

The case was originally brought by abortionists in the state, with the Department of Human Services, which oversees Medicaid, listed as a defendant. However, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro had declined to enforce the law, instead siding with the abortion industry. According to WESA, this resulted in a unique situation, when, during a hearing last year, both plaintiff and defendant appeared on the same side of the courtroom, and no attorney was present to defend the law.

The Details:

Attorney General Dave Sunday, who has been in office since 2025, has stepped in to defend the law on behalf of the state.

“My responsibility as Attorney General is to defend the rule of law and defend statutes without interference of personal opinion or political posturing,” he said.

Sunday filed his appeal in the state Supreme Court on May 19.

Dan Bartkowiak of the Pennsylvania Family Policy Institute told WGAL that the court's April ruling was an overreach.

"You have a court that's really looking to make policy,” he said. “Pennsylvania shouldn't be forced to fund abortion through their tax dollars.”

Susan Frietsche, the lead litigator on the case on behalf of the abortion businesses, ironically argued that Sunday's fight against taxpayer-funded abortion was "wasting taxpayer dollars."

“The Attorney General has chosen to waste taxpayer dollars on trying to take reproductive rights away from Pennsylvanians,” she said. "We look forward to once again arguing that reproductive choice belongs to the people, not the government."