After a night of heated debate, an Allentown City Council committee forwards 4 abortion-related ordinances to next meeting | State

Hendricks voted no on all four proposed ordinances.

If approved by the city council, the ordinance will:

• Establish 15-foot buffer zones in hospitals, medical offices, or clinics that care for patients and others entering or exiting such facilities. This would prevent anti-abortion protests or reproductive counseling from being held on sidewalks directly in front of abortion facilities. (Bill 60)

• Prohibit limited-service pregnancy centers from advertising fraudulent pregnancy-related services. The regulation would prevent pregnancy centers from trying to attract women seeking abortions to their facility under the false pretense that abortion counseling is offered as a service. (Bill 61)

• Direct all city officials and law enforcement agencies to de-prioritize any abortion-related crimes if abortion is ever made illegal statewide or in Pennsylvania. (Bill 62)

• Protect any reproductive health care providers from out-of-state investigation or prosecution for providing legal abortions. The ordinance prohibits any city official, employee or employee from providing any information or expending or using any city resources in any investigation aimed at prosecuting any abortion provider. (Bill 63)

This is the second time the board has addressed the abortion issue in response to a June decision by the US Supreme Court that overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

On July 20, the council voted 5-2 to recommend that the city of Allentown cover the travel costs associated with abortion access for all city employees should the need arise due to possible future abortion restrictions in the state.

During this meeting, one of the residents asked why the travel expenses of all the residents of the town who want to have an abortion cannot be covered. Siegel then announced that he was drafting legislation to help protect abortion in the city of Allentown.

Wednesday’s special committee meeting lasted three hours to allow for public comment from the more than 75 people who attended the meeting.

Bill 60, Buffer Zone Ordinance, caused a lot of discussion. Siegel said there is clear and well-documented evidence from local Planned Parenthood that suggests there is a pattern of abuse, harassment and bullying.

“This in no way stops anyone from speaking their minds, holding signs and saying what they need to say, but it does ensure that people seeking treatment, health care and access to their reproductive rights do so , without fear of physical intimidation, verbal altercations and bullying,” Siegel said.

“Some of my colleagues have expressed concern that this is beyond what the municipality can do,” he continued. “I’m asking you to look at the evidence and understand that this is not something that is out of balance with what the city can do. It’s perfectly reasonable and justifiable, and essentially the least we can do to stand up for women’s reproductive rights. It’s for the benefit of public safety and for the benefit of women.”

Ann Kiernan said she represents St Joseph the Worker’s Pro-Life Group in Orfield.

“There have been no police reports against individuals peacefully offering information to members of the public near abortion centers,” Kiernan said. “These people, called sidewalk counselors, are just there to offer help to women who don’t want to abort their babies. Sidewalk counselors help those women who make the choice to save their children.”

“Planned Parenthood has a vested interest in blocking women from getting information about alternatives and other choices,” Kiernan added. “This executive order and others like it clearly support Planned Parenthood at the expense of women who would have chosen life for their children if only they had talked to a sidewalk counselor before entering Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood does not give hope to those women. He offers death only to unborn children.’

Several other women from pro-life organizations in the Lehigh Valley gave similar testimony.

Siegel criticized the large number of women who opposed the buffer zone, calling them misinformed.

“You made your mind (voice) heard and I respect that,” he said. “I think you’re wrong. And to call it disconnection is crazy. It’s no more disconnection than flat earth denialism.”

“The reality is, it’s not a moral decision; it’s a public health decision,” Seigel continued. “The vast majority of people support women’s access to reproductive rights. The vast majority of people support buffer zones. The vast majority of people think it’s health care.’

The proposed decree on the regulation of advertising of pregnancy centers — Bill 61 — criticized John Merwart, executive director of Bright Hope Pregnancy Support Centres.

“How can you in good conscience go to a pregnancy support center about fraud and think it’s okay for a place that stops parenting to call itself Planned Parenthood?” Merwart asked.

“Planned Parenthood doesn’t have Planned Parenthood,” he said. “They don’t offer early childhood education, they don’t offer childbirth classes, they don’t support pregnancy, they don’t support parenthood. Here’s your cheat.’

“You call us limited because we don’t offer abortion or contraception,” Merwarth continued. “Why don’t you call Planned Parenthood limited for not offering the things I just mentioned?”

City resident Margaretha Hausler said she supports the bill.

“I find it very difficult given the stated position of crisis pregnancy centers that they are really going to give objective advice when they have a stated position that they are anti-choice,” Hausler said.

“It’s not saying, ‘We’re shutting you down or terminating your service,'” she added. “It’s saying we don’t want you to be able to give misleading or deceptive information to women when they’re doing research and trying to make difficult choices.”

Dr. John Roisin of Easton described himself as an abortion specialist.

“I’ve had countless patients come to these centers and be told after an ultrasound that they may be further along than they actually are,” Roisin said. “It was just false information that they were being fed.”

“And to make matters worse, I’ve had patients who were told we couldn’t see anything on the ultrasound and had to come in next week, and they were told to come in again and again and again,” Roisin said, “and by then they were still further along in the pregnancy.”

Siegel added that the centers expand and exaggerate the risks of abortion.

“Abortion is one of the safest procedures in the medical community,” Siegel said. “It’s no more dangerous than getting a colonoscopy, and I don’t see us banning it. The way we present information has implications when you say something like abortion has emotional and psychological complications.’

“If you tell the truth, you have nothing to worry about,” he said. “But I think, frankly, if you’re worried, maybe there’s a reason you’re worried about this increased scrutiny.”

The last two rulings, Bill 62 and Bill 63also drew criticism from pro-life groups and individuals, suggesting that Allentown would place itself above the law.

Supporters said it would be no different than deprioritizing prosecutions for possession of marijuana.

The full council could potentially vote on the ordinances at the next full meeting on Sept. 7, barring a special meeting before then. As it stands, the resolutions are likely to pass, as only Hendrix and Ed Zukal appear to be opposed.