Anna Thomas Says She Will Protect Abortion Rights in Pennsylvania State House Race

The Democratic candidate for House District 137 is Anna Thomas. Thomas lists protecting abortion and family planning freedom among her top campaign priorities, and says “family planning decisions should be made by families, not by politicians.”

Thomas says she believes abortion rights are under threat in Pennsylvania, stating she will “stand up to those in Harrisburg who want to outlaw abortion or limit access to birth control and fertility treatments for couples trying to have a baby.”

Thomas has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania PAC, the state’s leading reproductive rights advocacy group. 

The Republican candidate is incumbent Rep. Joe Emrick. Rep. Emrick’s record shows “a general opposition to abortion rights.” Rep. Emrick has voted repeatedly to limit abortion access as a member of the Pennsylvania House. Rep. Emrick has voted to “prohibit coverage of abortion care by plans in the state insurance exchange,” a bill which was signed into law in 2013. He voted for an abortion ban in 2017, as well as a 2019 bill that would have made it a felony to abort a fetus suspected of having Down syndrome. 

Rep. Emrick alsovoted for SB 106, which would haveprevented legal challenges in state court to strict abortion laws enacted in the future in Pennsylvania by amending the Pennsylvania Constitution to say that it does not guarantee any rights to an abortion. Republican majorities in the Pennsylvania legislature voted for the bill in 2022, which needs to be passed by the legislature a second time and approved by voters before going into effect. SB 106 is one of several restrictive abortion laws passed by Republican-led state legislatures following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.