At the Pennsylvania Family Institute, we often like to say, “We’re watching our state capitol.” Why do we monitor committee meetings, floor debate, and behind-the-scenes negotiation? The answer is simple: Because families like yours are worth fighting for.
We are the only full-time, professionally staffed non-profit organization representing family values—your values—in the state capitol. Every day, there are legislators, lobbyists, and special interests pushing policies that either protect or threaten life, marriage, religious freedom, and the well-being of children. We believe Pennsylvania should be a place where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished. That’s why our team is constantly on the ground in Harrisburg—watching, analyzing, testifying, meeting with lawmakers, and keeping you informed.
In just the past few months, we’ve been tracking a host of bills that have significant implications for families across our Commonwealth. Here’s a look at what we’re keeping an eye on right now, and why your attention and engagement are more critical than ever.
HB 300: Giving Cancel Culture the Force of Law
House Bill 300, deceptively named the “Fairness Act,” would enshrine sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) as special protected classes under state law, effectively putting the force of government behind the same “cancel culture” already pressuring people to conform to radical ideologies.
This bill would:
- Punish religious schools that decline to hire staff who reject biblical teaching on sexuality.
- Open women’s dorms and shelters to biological men who identify as women.
- Allow men in women’s sports, bathrooms, and showers.
- Force doctors to perform life-altering gender surgeries on minors.
- Shut down religious foster care agencies that seek homes with both a mother and a father.
- Treat people who believe in marriage between a man and a woman—or the biological reality of male and female—as equivalent to racists under the law.
As Michael Geer, our President, has said many times, employment, housing, and public accommodations shouldn’t be denied to anyone for arbitrary reasons. But these SOGI laws go far beyond fairness; they become swords to punish people of faith for living by deeply held beliefs. Similar laws have been used to harass or close religious schools, faith-based ministries, adoption agencies, and Christian medical professionals for their views of marriage and human sexuality inherent to their mission.
Marriage: Redefining a Timeless Institution
A bill to repeal Pennsylvania’s long-standing definition of marriage as between a man and a woman has been proposed before, but it did not get beyond a House committee. We are prepared to oppose it again. While Obergefell already altered the legal landscape nationwide, locking this redefinition into state law is more than symbolic. It further distances marriage from the reason the government got involved with marriage in the first place: uniting a husband and wife to be mother and father to any children their union produces.
Pennsylvania law currently defines marriage as “a civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other for husband and wife.” Legislators may seek to resubmit legislation that would remove this definition and replace it with “a civil contract between two individuals.”
“Marriage brings together the two halves of humanity, the union of one man and one woman, together as husband and wife to care for each other and to be father and mother to any children their union produces. This is the vital public interest and objective reality that governments throughout history have recognized, including Pennsylvania.”
It is in the state’s best interests to promote the well-being of children, and marriage as the union of one man and one woman is the public policy interest that best affords a child with the care of a loving mother and father.
Abortion Shield Laws: A Safe Haven for Abortionists
While it is not yet scheduled to run, HB1638-45 and SB 881-887 would attempt to shield abortion providers from accountability, even blocking cooperation with other states trying to hold negligent abortionists responsible for harm.
These bills create a new section to Pennsylvania’s law on medical liability, which has a stated purpose of “providing for patient safety.” Proposed sections carve out a special exception prohibiting “adverse actions against legal reproductive health care” for a provider who uses chemical abortion “to terminate a pregnancy to an out-of-state patient by means of telemedicine.” By creating this exception to “patient safety,” it is clear that this new legal protection for the abortionist, even a negligent abortionist who causes great harm, is provided without regard to the risk and detriment to the patient.
These dangerous bills would stop lawsuits against abortionists, even in cases like sending chemical abortion pills without verifying gestational age, which raises the risk of serious complications. It’s chilling to think Pennsylvania might become a sanctuary for reckless providers, especially after what we’ve endured with Kermit Gosnell’s “House of Horrors.”
The “Reproductive Freedom Act”: An Abortion Industry Wish List
House Bill 26 and Senate Bill 837 would seek to gut Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act, removing common-sense protections like parental consent, the 24-hour waiting period, informed consent, and even safeguards for babies born alive during failed abortions.
It would expand who can perform abortions, add a “mental health” loophole to allow late-term abortions up to birth, and facilitate telemedicine abortions with no in-person checks, putting women at greater risk. It even threatens those who try to persuade women to keep their babies with felony charges for “coercion,” chilling free speech, and life-affirming ministry.
As we wrote last year, “these bills are not only devastating for the sanctity of life in Pennsylvania, but it also puts women at greater risk by lowering health and safety standards. It is clear that the abortion industry and its legislators are more concerned with their bottom line and not the care of women.”
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Hate Crimes: Turning Dissent into Criminal Offense
There is a renewed push for expansive hate crimes legislation in Pennsylvania. But as former Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen has warned, “These are some of the most dangerous pieces of legislation that I’ve ever seen.”
Judge Allen is right—these proposals risk weaponizing the criminal justice system against ordinary Pennsylvanians. Just consider these very real scenarios:
- A student wearing a shirt that says “There are only two genders.”
- A parent objecting to graphic curricula at a school board meeting.
- A girl asking a biological boy to leave her locker room.
Each could become grounds for investigation under vague and overreaching new standards.
The underlying problem with previous proposals of “hate crimes” bills is their intention to silence people, using criminal consequences. Legislations like these could force a new arbitrary system of wide-reaching criminal charges on Pennsylvania citizens that would blacklist and demonize those who hold opposing views on areas of sexuality, marriage, and what it means to be male and female. This is state-sanctioned discrimination in some of its worst forms. These bills are unnecessary and would unjustly target Pennsylvania citizens.
As Independence Law Center Chief Counsel Randall Wenger notes, “In a free society, we should respect everyone. That includes respecting the freedom of expression for people to disagree on important issues.”
Age Verification for Porn: Protecting Children
We’re also supporting legislation to require age verification for online porn. One in four kids sees porn by age 12. Studies show exposure often starts as young as 7, reshaping brains like addictive drugs.
With more and more children having smartphones, and with those comes 24/7 access to the internet, many children accidentally stumble across pornography, and from there, addiction and other negative consequences often ensue. That’s why this age-verification proposal is so vitally important.
Similar legislation has passed in 23 other states and have been incredibly successful. Revealingly, the world’s biggest pornography peddler has completely pulled out of three of the states, and traffic to the site has significantly dropped in others – in Louisiana, where the first of these laws was passed, traffic to the website has decreased by 80%. This illustrates how effective this type of legislation is at protecting children.
We must protect our children and enact common-sense verification to ensure they are protected from pornography!
Uniform Parentage Act: Children Treated as Commodities
Perhaps most seemingly innocent is House Bill 350, the so-called Uniform Parentage Act. This bill dismantles long-standing safeguards by redefining parentage on mere “intent.” It ignores the natural ties between parent and child, strips away judicial oversight, and removes the few protections that children born and procured through surrogacy have.
Under current Pennsylvania law, a couple or individual who wants to become a parent through surrogacy must submit themselves to a judge for approval. That judge has the ability to hold a hearing and ensure the “intended” parents will be safe for the children. This safeguard is absolutely crucial. We know that, statistically, the most dangerous person a child will encounter is a non biologically related adult in the home. We need protections to ensure that these adults will give these babies safe and loving homes.
Under HB 350, anyone who has enough money to procure a surrogate can circumvent any safety measures, including individuals who would never pass the muster of a traditional adoption process. This should be deeply disturbing to us all.
The consequences for children are grave. They could lose access to knowing who their biological parents are, vital family medical histories, and connections to extended family and cultural heritage. Research consistently shows children created through such contracts often struggle with profound questions of identity and belonging.
As Judge Cheryl Allen, a former Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge, starkly warns, “The safety and well-being of children should be paramount when considering legislation concerning parental rights. House Bill 350 fails to address those concerns.”
In an opinion article published in Broad & Liberty, Judge Allen made it clear:
“We must not allow a dangerous shortcut to replace our well-established protections. We must not treat children as commodities or personal property. Instead, we must uphold rigorous safeguards ensuring every child’s right to safety, dignity, and identity. As someone who has devoted her career to upholding justice for families and children, I urge lawmakers to reject HB 350 and protect Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable.”
This bill reduces human life to a private agreement between adults, enforced by the state, with little regard for the child’s rights or welfare. At Pennsylvania Family Institute, we’re standing firm against treating children as commodities—and urging lawmakers to do the same.
Marijuana Legalization: The Consequences of Commercialization
PA Family continues to push back on Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget plan of commercializing high-potency THC marijuana products in PA for recreational use. Various bills are being considered that would incentivize the state government to generate tax revenue from increased addictive use of marijuana.
From helping to organize parents speaking out about the dangers of marijuana use to sending an open letter to elected officials signed by over 200 church and ministry leaders in opposition to recreational legalization, we continue to highlight the truths of marijuana use and the many harms that occur when states experiment with legalization.
As PA Family’s Dan Bartkowiak writes:
“The meteoric rise in marijuana potency and the development of concentrates with dangerously high THC levels have made marijuana stronger, more addictive, and increasingly linked to mental health problems and impairment that impact driving, schools, and workplaces. Behind all of this, large corporations in the marijuana industry view addiction-for-profit as their next business venture, with Pennsylvania as their next target.”
Why We’re Here—and Why Your Voice Matters
This is just a snapshot of what your team at Pennsylvania Family Institute is monitoring daily at the Capitol. We do this because the stakes couldn’t be higher. We do it because you deserve to know when threats against the family arise, or when opportunities present themselves to build a better Pennsylvania for families to flourish.
But we can’t do it without you. Legislators care deeply about what their constituents think. Your emails, phone calls, and personal conversations make a bigger difference than you may ever realize.
If you haven’t already, please sign up for our action alert emails, and tell your family and friends to sign up. Staying informed is the first step. And when we send out an alert, be ready to stand with us.
Together, we can continue to work for a Pennsylvania where families thrive, life is cherished, and God is honored.
