Particle.news
Download on the App Store
7 ARTICLES
·
12h ago

Pa. Supreme Court Retention Fight Intensifies as Abortion Messaging, Disinformation and New Poll Shape the Race

New polling shows many voters undecided despite a surge of outside spending and warnings from physicians and watchdogs about the stakes for reproductive health and election rules.

Voters line up outside of a polling station at St. John's Windish Evangelical Lutheran Church before the polls open on Election Day in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on November 5, 2024. (Photo by SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)
Image
Image

Overview

  • Voters will decide on Nov. 4 whether to retain Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, a vote that could preserve or upend the court’s 5–2 Democratic-aligned majority.
  • Pro-retention efforts center on abortion access, including a Vote Yes for Fair Courts ad featuring Gov. Josh Shapiro urging voters to keep the justices to protect abortion and birth control access.
  • Physicians organized by the Committee to Protect Health Care cautioned that the outcome could affect abortion availability, Medicaid coverage and patients’ rights, citing the court’s 2024 ruling scrutinizing the Medicaid abortion funding ban.
  • Good‑government groups and the League of Women Voters flagged deceptive mailers tied to the Commonwealth Leaders Fund with links to Jeff Yass that falsely blame the court for gerrymandered maps the justices struck down in 2018.
  • A Franklin & Marshall College survey finds large shares of voters still undecided, though likely voters lean toward retention, as spending climbs to roughly $7 million with investments from the DNC and GOP-aligned groups.