Shapiro wants abortion rights in the state constitution. The amendment passed the House by one vote and has waited 309 days in the Senate

Gov. Josh Shapiro listed putting abortion rights into the Pennsylvania Constitution among his goals for a second term during a campaign swing through Western Pennsylvania, WESA reported. Doing that takes more than a law: the same amendment has to pass both chambers in two consecutive two-year sessions, and then voters have to approve it.

Of that item and others on his list, including a lawsuit window for survivors of child sexual abuse, Shapiro said, "Those are things that the Senate Republicans have blocked for years," according to WESA.

The amendment exists, and the records show exactly how far it has gotten.

What the records show

House Bill 1957, the Reproductive Rights Amendment, is a joint resolution from Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, a Chester County Democrat. Its 35 co-sponsors are all Democrats.

• Committee, Oct. 22, 2025: The House Judiciary Committee sent it to the floor 14-12, a party-line vote. All 14 Democrats voted yes, and all 12 Republicans voted no.
• Appropriations, Dec. 17, 2025: Re-reported 22-15.
• Final passage, Dec. 17, 2025: 102-101, the narrowest possible margin in a 203-member House.

The official roll call page lists totals but not each member's vote. Four members crossed party lines, according to an account of the roll call by the Pennsylvania Family Council, which opposed the amendment: Democratic Reps. Frank Burns of Cambria County and Anita Kulik of Allegheny County voted no, and Republican Reps. Kathleen Tomlinson and Joe Hogan, both of Bucks County, voted yes. Those four switches net out, which matches the 102-101 total. Kulik is retiring this year, WESA reported.

The resolution went to the Senate on Dec. 22, 2025, and was referred to the State Government Committee. The bill page shows no action since: 309 days as of Tuesday. That committee has a 7-4 Republican majority, Lehigh Daily News reported.

What it would do

The amendment would guarantee a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including choosing or refusing abortion, contraception or fertility care, and bar the state from denying or interfering with those decisions, according to MyChesCo's summary of the measure. Lehigh Daily News reported that it would protect abortion until fetal viability, and after that point when needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person. Opponents, including the Family Council, have argued it would go well beyond current law.

House Majority Whip Mike Schlossberg, a Lehigh County Democrat, told Lehigh Daily News he doubted the Senate would pass it under Republican control, but said, "We can't avoid passing good legislation because we're afraid of what a Republican-controlled body will do."

What happens next

The Senate has two voting days left this session, Nov. 17 and 18, according to its session calendar. If the Senate doesn't pass HB 1957 by the time the session ends Nov. 30, the resolution dies. Under the two-session rule described by Lehigh Daily News, a new version would need to pass both chambers in the 2027-28 session and again in the 2029-30 session before it could go on a statewide ballot.

Republicans hold the Senate 27-23, and half its seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot. Our Oct. 23 article covers the races that could decide control.