LGBT anti-discrimination bill advances in state Senate

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House passed a controversial bill that would ban abortion four weeks earlier than the state’s current law. Pregnant women undergo a fetal scan at 20 weeks that can reveal severe abnormalities, leaving families with little time to make heart-wrenching decisions about their pregnancies. All six of the county’s Democratic representatives opposed it. It passed 132-65.

Browne’s Senate Bill 1316, which includes the prohibition of discrimination in public accommodation, awaits a hearing in the State Government Committee.

Governor Tom Wolf has threatened to veto the bill if it gets through the State Senate.

Opponents said the bill did not offer exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape and incest, although there are exceptions if the procedure would save the mother’s life or prevent impairment of a major bodily function.

Wednesday’s dramatic turnaround left the state’s online gambling fans reeling and likely feeling extra motivated to lobby the hell out of their state pols to ensure they don’t drop the online ball.

In a scramble to find cash just days from the state budget deadline, the Pennsylvania House backed a measure Wednesday to expand legalized gambling to the internet and airports, but rejected a more sweeping expansion of casino-style gambling to bars.

“I implored you then as I do now – as an attorney, as a civil rights advocate, and as a legislator that has sworn to uphold the Constitution and not the Bible or any other religious document – to see this legislation for what it actually is”, Sims told state lawmakers.

“House Bill 1948, if approved, would significantly jeopardize the open dialogue within the physician/patient relationship … a relationship that is the very foundation upon which modern medicine was built”, wrote Shapiro.

Mr. Wolf, a Democrat, reiterated his veto threat, calling the bill “a step backwards for women and for Pennsylvania”.

“All Pennsylvania mothers and their unborn children deserve far better than this”, the Republican from Warren said.

State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-159, of Chester, who is also mayor of the city of Chester and pastor of Community Baptist Church in Chester, said he did not support the bill because he doesn’t believe legislators have the right to make decisions concerning a woman and her body. Mobile applications would only be accessible at an global airport in Pennsylvania.