Dear Pennsylvania Friends, Now that the election is over and the Harrisburg House of Representatives will begin

looking at bills that were tabled during this legislative session, I am writing to ask that you consider signing a petition to oppose House Bill 1077. This will ensure that this legislation does not get rekindled. In 2012, all seven of the Republican legislators who serve Lancaster County, Creighton, Aument, Boyd, Bear, Hickernell, Denlinger, and Cutler sponsored House Bill 1077 The Womens Right to Know Act, the mandatory ultrasound requirement imposed 24 hours prior to a woman obtaining an abortion. Women choose to have an abortion for many reasons including cases where the pregnancy is planned but dangerous to their health or there is a fatal, fetal anomaly. It is cruel and inhumane to pressure women who are already devastated about losing their pregnancy to view images of their fetus. Representative Sturla along with the Pennsylvania Medical Society were some of the lone voices in our county opposing this demeaning legislation against women. Regardless of ones stance on abortion, the goal should be to reduce unintended pregnancy and subsequently, the abortion rate. With health care costs increasing, a good cost effective analysis on how best to decrease the abortion rate is needed. The costs of implementing HB 1077 are numerous: cost of ultrasound services, physicians hours, Department of Health services to implement the bill, loss of the private decision making relationship between physician and patient, and financial and emotional cost to women making a decision about abortion. Does this expensive mandate even decrease the abortion rate as the HB 1077s sponsors intend? Studies show that abortion restrictive policies do not change a womans mind, but delay the procedure, increasing both the cost and risk. What policies do lower the nations abortion rate? The primary way to reduce the numbers of abortions is to decrease the most probable cause, unintended pregnancy. More cost effective ways than mandatory ultrasound include consistent use of effective contraception by all sexually active men and women who do not desire pregnancy; access to family planning counseling and contraceptive services, and comprehensive sex education to empower people to make responsible decisions. Click on the following link to sign a petition that will be sent to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives opposing this bill: http://signon.org/sign/stop-pennsylvanias-mandatory?source=c.url&r_by=2715803

In addition, listed below is the contact information for the Lancaster County House of Representatives. Find your representative, copy and paste this message of opposition and email your opinion to the representatives email. Your voice does matter. Representative Fee, Representative Greiner, and Representative Mentzer are all newly elected representatives and would like your opinion on important womens issues. Representative Sturla does oppose this legislation so if you live in his district, encourage friends who live in the districts listed below to send an email.
Lancaster County House Contacts:
Rep. Mindy Fee, R-37, Lancaster County; E-mail: mfee@pahousegop.com District office: 47 Market Square, Manheim, 17545; phone: 664-4979. Rep. Ryan Aument, R-41, Lancaster County. E-mail: raument@pahousegop.com. Phone: (717) 705-7161 Fax: (717) 705-1946 Lancaster Office: (more district offices) 2938 Columbia Avenue, Suite 501 Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603 Rep. Keith Greiner, R-43, Lancaster County. E-mail: kgreiner@pahousegop.com District office: 852 Village Road, P.O. Box 268, Lampeter, 18357; phone: 464-5285. Rep. Steven Mentzer, R-97, Lancaster County. E-mail: smentzer@pahousegop.com Room 159B East Wing, PO Box 202097, Harrisburg, Pa. 17020-2097. District office: District office: 1555 Highlands Drive, Suite 110, Lititz, PA 17543 phone: 626-1776. Harrisburg: 717-787-1776 Rep. Dave Hickernell, R-98, Lancaster County; E-mail: dhickern@pahousegop.com. Web: www.rephickernell.com. District offices: 236 Locust St., Columbia, 17512;

phone: 684-5525; 222 S. Market St., Suite 103, Elizabethtown, 17022; phone: 367-5525. Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-99, Lancaster County. E-mail: Via Web site. Web: www.repdenlinger.com. District office: 607 E. Main St., Ephrata, 17522; phone: 733-4002. Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-100, Lancaster County. E-mail: bcutler@pahousegop.com. Room 430 Irvis Office Building, P.O. Box 202100, Harrisburg, Pa., 17120-2100. District office: 207 East State St., Quarryville, 17566. Phone: 786-4551; fax: 786-3645

Thanks for considering, Amanda Fowler