It didn’t take long for the general election in Pennsylvania to start.
On Wednesday morning, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party assembled a group of party officials to warn voters about what would happen with abortion rights if Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano is elected in November.
Mr. Mastriano, the state senator who won the GOP’s primary on Tuesday, has said he’d sign laws restricting abortion in the state, including a so-called heartbeat bill — which he’s sponsored — to enact an abortion ban from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected.
State Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, said Wednesday from the portico of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh that Mr. Mastriano wants to take Pennsylvania back to a time when women died because they didn’t have guaranteed, safe access to abortion.
“We’ve seen extreme abortion bans across the country at six weeks [into a pregnancy]. Doug Mastriano wants to make it three weeks,” Ms. Kinkead said. “That’s not even a whole cycle for a woman.”
Democratic leaders said they would tour the commonwealth in the coming days to spread this message in an attempt to label Mr. Mastriano an extremist who would take away Pennsylvanians’ freedoms if elected.
In part, it will also be to tout their nominee, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, as a last line of defense against a GOP trifecta in Harrisburg. Republicans already control the state House and state Senate but have seen dozens of their measures vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
Mr. Mastriano won his race by a wide margin. As of Wednesday, he was beating the second-place candidate, former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, by more than a 2-to-1 margin, having won 44.1% of the total vote.
Deeming abortion as one of his top issues, Mr. Mastriano has said he does not support exceptions for rape, incest or if the life of the mother is at stake. Asked in an April debate if he believes a woman who has an abortion or a doctor who performs an abortion should be punished, he said the doctors should be.
Mr. Mastriano's campaign could not be immediately reached for comment in response to the Democrats’ Wednesday morning messaging.
His comments come as the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which would effectively leave it up to state legislatures to permit or restrict abortion access. Democrats don't have the numbers in the U.S. Senate to codify Roe v. Wade, either.
State Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, a colleague of Mr. Mastriano’s in Harrisburg, called him a “far-right radical Republican” who Pennsylvanians should be concerned about.
Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Deb Gross, echoing what party leaders say will likely be a premier talking point of Mr. Shapiro’s general election campaign, said Republicans are going after the freedoms of Pennsylvanians, starting with women’s reproductive rights.
“This Republican agenda is really about taking away your rights,” Ms. Gross said.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @julianrouth
First Published: May 18, 2022, 5:25 p.m.
Updated: May 19, 2022, 2:19 p.m.