Guest Column: PA House Democrats Throw Women Under the Bus

 By Lowman S. Henry

The Left has become adept at using various issues as a wedge to gain political advantage with women voters. They have been particularly effective in using so-called “reproductive rights,” mischaracterizing the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision as having taken away those supposed rights even though the court merely returned the issue to the states where it properly belongs.

But, as the saying goes, they are “all hat, and no cowboy” when it comes to protecting actual women. Here in Penn’s Woods Pennsylvania House Democrats have been particularly brazen in throwing women under the bus if acting on their behalf in any way threatens their tenuous hold on legislative power.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has been a chamber virtually evenly divided since the beginning of the current session. Capitalizing on the most egregious Gerrymandered set of district lines in the Commonwealth’s history, Democrats seized a one-seat majority in the 2022 elections.

Plagued by one death and multiple resignations the chamber has periodically fallen into a 101-101 tie. This has prompted Democrats to use various tactics including the snookering of several Republicans to vote for a supposed “non-partisan” temporary House Speaker to hold the chamber in recess for months using the flimsy excuse of fixing a leak in the chamber ceiling.

The latest example of Democrats’ prioritizing political power over protecting women occurred last week when Speaker Joanna McClinton allowed State Rep. Kevin Boyle to vote even though he was on the lamb hiding out from law enforcement seeking to execute a warrant for his arrest for allegedly violating a protection from abuse order. McClinton and House Democrats showed no concern for the female victim who filed the protection from abuse order, feeding instead their lust for legislative power. 

A variety of excuses were forthcoming. Rep. Boyle, who was recently involved in a drunken rant at a local bar, was said by defenders to be suffering from mental health issues. If indeed that is the case, then Mr. Boyle should be given the appropriate medical care. 

But there are larger issues here. First and foremost: is his flight from the law in any way imperiling the safety of the woman who filed the protection from abuse order? Second, should a fugitive from justice be permitted to cast a vote – or have someone else vote for him – in Pennsylvania’s legislative body? 

Realizing the optics of the situation House Democrats decided to propose new rules for expelling a member. Getting back to our analogy theme that is the equivalent of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped. Time will tell if any action will follow.

Sadly, this is not the first time House Democrats have placed power over people. Last Spring, their majority still teetering by one vote, House Democrats obfuscated as then-Rep. Mike Zabel of Delaware County stood accused of sexual harassment by a labor union lobbyist. It took pressure from female Republican House members to force Zabel’s resignation.

Likewise, Gov. Josh Shapiro has placed political expediency over the protection of women. One of his top aides, former Secretary of Legislative Affairs Mike Vereb, was forced to resign in the wake of sexual harassment allegations lodged by a female staff member. Vereb remained on the job for months while a taxpayer-funded monetary settlement of $295,000 was negotiated and paid to the victim. The issue only gained traction when state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward and other female legislators forced it into the public spotlight. As did his colleagues in the state House, Shapiro placed power and perception over the protection of women.

There has been much ado made over the fact House Speaker Joanna McClinton is the first woman to occupy that leadership role. While that is indeed an accomplishment you would think she would use that position to further the protection of women. Instead, she has prioritized the protection of her political majority. It is a choice that will tarnish what should otherwise be a shining legacy.

(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal and American Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.)