Joanna McClinton, who currently serves as Pennsylvania’s Democratic House Minority Leader, criticized her Republican colleagues who have backed efforts to dismantle reproductive rights, adding that they have also made it harder to protect reproductive rights because they are making it harder for them to be voted out of office.
McClinton's remarks come as the nation continues to reel from the news that the United States Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that once protected a person's right to choose reproductive healthcare without excessive government restriction.
She noted that Republicans have taken action to silence Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania in addition to millions of voters across the state.
You can hear her remarks in the video below
McClinton said:
“We’re talking about women dying. We’re talking about more than half the population not being able to make decisions – when not even half of this body has a uterus.”
"But here we are being silenced yet again. And understand when you’re silencing us, we are actually elected officials like you all. So you’re silencing millions of voters from every corner of the Commonwealth."
“When you silence us and don’t allow us to amend bills that won’t let people vote, that won’t allow women to make their own decisions. You’re silencing all of us.”
McClinton's fiery speech came the week after the Pennsylvania Senate and House passed Senate Bill 106, a proposal to amend the state's Constitution to include language affirming there would be no right to abortion and no guarantee that taxpayer funds could be used for abortions.
The bill goes even further by restricting voting access in the state by requiring voters to present identification at the polls, rather than only when registering.
She added:
“We need to suspend the rules and let this amendment come through before we rush this off to the voters."
"Those same voters that you tried to silence in 2020 when you didn’t like the outcome of the election. Those same voters that you said didn’t matter what they chose."
"Those are the people you’re trying to shut up.”
Many have praised McClinton for speaking out
McClinton's speech has received millions of views on social media and she has seen her profile rise significantly since her words attracted national attention.
Her Twitter account has garnered tens of thousands of new followers since, with numbers still climbing. She has since started a fundraiser on ActBlue focused on flipping the Pennsylvania House.
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