The biggest wedge issue in the Democratic primary for the blue-blue PA-13 seat Allyson Schwartz is abandoning to run for governor is Social Security. As we explained Monday, Marjorie Margolies has an anti-Social Security record going way back to when she was a crooked, mediocre, one-term ConservaDem a couple decades ago-- and she's still singing the same old Republican austerity song today. Daylin Leach-- as well as Val Arkoosh-- are duking it out with Margolies over Social Security… at least they are in theory. Completely depending on her relation to the Clintons-- her son/their daughter-- to get her elected, Margolies has steadfastly refused to join any of the debates or public forums. She's hiding from the voters and never says anything but "Clinton."
However, there is another divisive issue that should concern PA-13 voters-- and it was Allyson Schwartz's signature issue and the entire basis to her claim to moral leadership: women's Choice. Margolies is good on the issue as is Arkoosh. As a state Senator, Daylin Leach has been in the forefront on the battle to keep Republicans from diminishing women's rights. "For my entire career," he told us yesterday, "I have always been a staunch supporter of women's rights especially the right to choose. In fact, I have led the fight against the same anti-choice bills that it now appears that Boyle supported. In Congress, there is a constant drum beat of anti-choice conservatives from both parties who want to limit access to abortion services, defund Planned Parenthood, and even make it harder for women to get birth control. I will fight this on every front to ensure that women always have the right to make their own healthcare decisions."
Boyle? Brendan Boyle, the 4th candidate in the PA-13 primary, the handpicked candidate of Machine boss Bob Brady? That Boyle? Yep… that's the one-- as anti-Choice as any misogynistic Republican freak from rural Georgia or Texas. Boyle isn't passively anti-Choice; he's a fanatic and an activist and a danger to American women. Yesterday, Colleen Kennedy laid it all out for Keystone Politics readers.
State Representative Brendan Boyle (D – 170) is one of dozens who helped to pass Act 122, a law that has resulted in the closure of five women’s clinics so far, since its enactment on December 22, 2011. This wasn’t a shocking move for Boyle to make; he has been a legislative supporter of the pro-life lobby all of his political career, but what is shocking is that his anti-choice record has gone largely unnoticed in the 13th district congressional race. He is the only pro-life candidate in a race in one of the most left-leaning districts in the country, thanks to gerrymandering.She concluded by warning that Boyle's law "has returned Pennsylvania to the days before the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, in which abortions still occurred, but the safety of women seeking them was not valued. As you know, Blue America has endorsed Daylin-- you can donate to his campaign here-- and Boyle's anti-Choice fanaticism isn't the only reason to make sure Daylin wins this race. Boyle is completely in the pocket of the anti-public school/pro-voucher forces, who have been funding his political career. Slimy anti-education dirtbags Joel Greenberg and Jeffrey Yass have maxed out to him and Boyle has been taking campaign cash from 2 of the worst anti-education outfits, the misnamed Students First PAC (Michelle Rhee's group) and Democrats for Education Reform.
In 2004, Democrats for Life of America listed Representative Boyle as a “Pro-Life All Star” on their website, a title which today is reserved for conservative democrats like Senator Joe Manchin… In April 2011, Brendan Boyle was a prime sponsor of HB 1314, a bill that is similar in architecture to the bill State Senator Wendy Davis famously filibustered, launching her into the Texas gubernatorial race. HB 1314 required all physicians performing abortions in Pennsylvania to receive surgical privileges from a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. In other states where this law has been on the books, clinicians have had trouble getting privileges, due to the conservative activist role that some hospital administrators have taken to block their medical privileges.
In accordance with this Pennsylvania bill, those who were found performing an abortion without such privileges would be fined and charged with a third degree misdemeanor, risking their ability to continue to practice medicine. The bill was so extreme that it did not even make it out of committee, a huge reason why many in the general public do not know of Boyle’s advocacy for the bill.
Then in December 2011, of course, Representative Boyle voted in favor of SB 732, which was passed as Act 122. Its legislative supporters assured the public that it wouldn’t close any clinics, but instead, make them safer for those using them. It included provisions that mandated all clinics as “ambulatory surgical centers”. This basically means that expensive renovations would be required of all health centers, regardless of any history of safety issues or structural flaws in a facility. It’s what reproductive choice advocates call TRAP laws, or the targeted regulation of abortion providers. Its sole purpose is to make it impossible for clinics to remain open under the weight of pointless red tape and renovation costs.
No medical associations, medical professionals, or reproductive choice advocates supported the bill, all whom are charged with lobbying for the safest possible outcomes for patients, but plenty of anti-choice legislators seeking to eliminate abortion access all together helped to make this bill law. They used the media frenzy over the Gosnell murder trial to misinform the public about clinics, and it worked. Since Act 122′s enactment, five clinics have closed.
Pennsylvania progressives and libertarians were also upset that Boyle was a supporter of HB2400, an intrusive domestic spying bill, where he voted for increased surveillance that included particularly troubling things like government use in prosecutions of illegally-made civilian wiretaps, allowing wiretaps in any public place so long as notice is posted or recording equipment is easily visible, allowed any one civilian to record any other civilian if they thought they would get evidence regarding certain serious crimes, and government use of any seized cell phone to gather evidence without any oversight. You want a "Democrat" in Congress backing crap like that? Don't we have enough of that already? There's no need to try to figure out who's worse, Boyle or Margolies because we already know who's best: Daylin Leach, who has a record to prove it. If you'd like, this is a very good race to invest in.
