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Abortion rights advocates rally outside office of Bucks County Congressman Fitzpatrick

James McGinnis
Bucks County Courier Times

Following the Supreme Court's decision Friday overturning Roe v. Wade, Bucks County Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick urged compromise and calm consideration.

The approximately 200 angry voters who gathered outside his office Friday night would have none of that.

"As a woman, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, I cannot believe we are here again," said Janet Ecksel, of Upper Southampton, standing in a Middletown parking lot. "Once again, women will need to have illegal, self-induced abortions and women will die."

Hours after the Supreme Court upended the constitutional right to abortion, Fitzpatrick, who is anti-abortion, issued a statement in which he neither applauded nor condemned the ruling.

"Any legislative consideration must always seek to achieve bipartisan consensus that both respects a woman’s privacy and autonomy, and also respects the sanctity of human life," Fitzpatrick said. "I urge all state legislatures to always start from a place of empathy and compassion. Any legislative consideration must start with the process of seeing the world through other people’s eyes, and walking the world in other people’s shoes."

More than 200 people gathered outside the Middletown office of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick on Friday, June 24, 2022.

Gathered with the protesters outside his office Friday, Democrat Ashley Ehasz, who is challenging Fitzpatrick in November, said Fitzpatrick supports anti-abortion policies and other measures that hurt middle- and low-income families in Bucks County.

"While Brian likes to pretend that he supports our community, he sure is screwing over a lot of women and working families in our district," Ehasz said.

The right to an abortion is a personal issue for Ehasz, she said. "My dad left us when I was two (years old)."

"I watched as my mom struggled to make ends meet," Ehasz said. "I remember watching her water down the milk so that it would last longer. Without the protection of Roe v. Wade, women with kids and women like my mom will have less options."

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Fitzpatrick has long supported efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he even drew the attention of the former president for his anti-abortion stance.

In 2020, Donald Trump became the first president to attend a March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.

From the podium, Trump personally thanked Fitzpatrick, among a dozen other lawmakers in attendance at the rally.

More recently, Fitzpatrick has voted along with many other Republicans against measures sought by Planned Parenthood.

In September, Fitzpatrick voted against the proposed Women's Health Protection Act. Supporters said the bill would prevent government agencies from cutting funds to abortion providers. If passed, the measure would also prevent states from setting limits on abortions, medications and other services. The legislation never got a vote in the U.S. Senate.

In December, the political action committee Emily's List named Fitzpatrick among 27 House Republicans "unyielding in their attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, which millions of Americans depend on for life-saving medical care."

Protesters gather outside the Middletown office of Bucks County Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick on Friday, June 24, 2022.

NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, one of the oldest abortion rights groups in America, has also endorsed Ehasz.

Yet, Fitzpatrick's actions have also upset some anti-abortion groups.

In February 2021, Fitzpatrick voted in support of a proposed Equality Act, which would extend civil rights protections based upon gender identity and sexual orientation. Critics of the legislation said it would lead to government-funded abortion care.

Fitzpatrick was one of only three Republicans in the House to endorse the measure.

Kierstyn Zolfo, of Newtown Township, speaks at a rally outside the Middletown office of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick on Friday, June 24, 2022.

For voters such as Bella Thier, of Newtown, there can be no debate on issues of women's reproductive health.

"I'm only 18. So, I just got the right to vote and it feels like my rights have been taken away from me," said Thier. "I feel like I have less rights than Mom had."

Some at Friday's rally were carrying coat hangers. "Illegal abortion is just a gateway to unsafe abortions," said Thier. "It's still going to be happening."

Kierstyn Zolfo, of Newtown Township, said she would protest outside Fitzpatrick's office to exercise her First Amendment right to "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances," she said. "And I can think of no greater grievance than the lost of my own body autonomy."

Cyrena Spafford, of Ivyland, and her Boston terrier Mable attended a rally outside the Middletown office of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick on Friday, June 24, 2022.