How Progressives End Up Funding Attacks on Reproductive Rights
A number of anti-abortion bills are moving through the PA state legislature, and while the Republicans lead these efforts, too many Democrats are complicit by supporting anti-abortion Democrats.
Author’s Note: this is a slightly edited version of an article originally published on Medium. It is republished here for easier finding and sharing. Some additional screenshots and links were added in May 2023 to illustrate that local Democrats are still supporting anti-abortion Democrats in various ways.
In September 2021, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 to essentially let Roe v Wade expire in Texas, effectively banning abortion for most women.
But Texas isn’t the only state facing legislative pushes against abortion; recently, a number of bills working to restrict access to reproductive health services are being passed in the Pennsylvania state legislature. Planned Parenthood has a more detailed description of these bills and why they are unacceptable, but to quote a short summary:
“The obvious aim of these bills is to further stigmatize and criminalize people seeking abortions as well as their healthcare providers. Undoubtedly, each of these harmful bills will create more punitive barriers to care, especially for people of color, LGBTQ folks, young people, and people with low incomes…”
Some bills even go beyond those seeking abortion information and services, and would shame and hurt even women that experienced a miscarriage.
Unfortunately, the voting record for the bills that have advanced so far shows that it was not only Republicans; several Democrats also voted for these bills: HB 118, HB 1500, and HB 1095. The Democrats voting for one or more of these bills include (in alphabetical order by last name):
Ryan Bizzarro (Erie) (1095)
Frank Burns (Cambria) (all three)
Anthony M. DeLuca (Allegheny) (118, 1500)
Michael Driscoll (Philadelphia) (1500, 1095)
John T. Galloway (Bucks) (1500, 1095)
Anita Kulik (Allegheny) (all three)
Mark Longietti (Mercer) (all three)
Brandon J. Markosek (Allegheny) (1500)
Robert F. Matzie (Allegheny/Beaver) (1500, 1095)
Gerald Mullery (Luzerne) (1095)
Chris Sainato (Lawrence) (all three)
Pam Snyder (Greene/Fayette/Washington) (all three)
While Democratic Party officials are out speaking against the Republican Party (and rightfully so), especially in light of the recent decision in Texas to severely restrict abortion, it is difficult to take such criticism seriously when they cannot even confront the anti-abortion attitudes within their own party. This is especially true for officials in Allegheny County (the Pittsburgh metro area, roughly), where the most Democrat elected officials crossed over and voted for one or more of these bills than any other county.
Democratic officials that truly wish to fight for reproductive rights and people’s control of their own bodies should be sure to call out their own party members first. Have party members talked to these representatives and attempted to educate them on the issues? If so, and the representatives will not budge, then the party needs to publicly oppose them and state that their views do not represent the party, rather than allow the same dangerous attitudes to persist in their own party. Instead, the party seems to largely insulate and protect these incumbents by supporting their re-election campaigns and deflecting criticism toward Republicans.
A Closer Look At Anita Kulik, An Anti-Abortion Democratic Woman
I especially want to turn my attention to Rep. Anita Kulik from this list, for a few reasons: out of the list of all Democrats voting for this anti-reproductive-rights legislation, Kulik stands out for being one of two Democratic women voting for these bills that would shame and harm women, and also one of the five Democrats that voted in favor of all three bills. Kulik also happens to be the state representative of the district I live in.
Kulik regularly describes herself as “pro-life” and has in past years supported anti-abortion efforts, including the big push in 2017 for SB 3, an anti-abortion bill that was pushed nationwide in many states which many consider to have been the most restrictive abortion legislation in the nation had it have passed; Kulik voted Yes with Republicans (and even with most of the same names in the list above), but the bill was vetoed by Governor Tom Wolf. When I reached out to her office at the time to ask her to oppose such attempts, she reiterated that she was “pro-life” and would not change her mind on it. Therefore, the votes this year sadly sudden surprising votes, but rather votes clearly inline with her views she’s made public for years.
Sadly, Kulik has largely gone unopposed, since she first took the seat from retiring state representative Nick Kotik. Kotik had run unopposed nearly every election for a good 20 years, so it wasn’t surprising that when Kulik first ran in 2016, she was also unopposed. Since 2016, Kulik never faced a primary challenger. I attempted to run as a Green candidate, but the pandemic which began in 2020 made it difficult to meet ballot access laws; a lawsuit was filed for relief to try to get all Green candidates on the ballot, but this lawsuit was dismissed (even though a different lawsuit by Democrats in 2021 for the same reason was successful, go figure).
Did you think your donations to progressive Democrats actually go to conservative incumbents like Kulik? Well, that’s what happens.
Part of the reason for the lack of challengers could be how much Kulik has benefited from Democratic Party aid as an incumbent. Potential progressive challengers could easily be “scared off” from running when assessing Kulik’s financial and social support, for example. It is especially egregious to learn that many of the “progressive” members of the party themselves have supported Kulik, at least indirectly if not sometimes even directly.
Pennsylvania requires campaigns file regular finance reports that are public record. Looking at Kulik’s filings since 2019, we see a large number of clearly Democratic organizations — for example, one of her top donors, contributing over $3,000 to her campaign in 2020, is the Allegheny County Democratic Delegation, which presumably represents all currently-elected state legislators in Allegheny County. It’s unclear to me how that works exactly, but I have to conclude if state representatives are not speaking out against this donation made in their name — and possibly from their own money — then they must be complicit. Additionally, the PA Federation of Democratic Women has donated to Kulik’s anti-abortion campaign, as well as more local organizations like the Kennedy Township Democratic Committee and the Stowe Township Democratic Club.
In addition to clubs and committees, many elected Democratic officials and candidates directly donated to Kulik either personally or through their campaign finance accounts. Pittsburgh Mayor’s Bill Peduto’s PAC Friends of Peduto for example gave $250 to Kulik. State Representative Harry Readshaw (Readshaw for Legislator), Democratic candidate for Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus, ex Allegheny County State Representative Adam Ravenstahl (Friends of Adam Ravenstahl), Philadelphia State Representative Jordan Harris (Citizens for Jordan Harris), Allegheny County Treasurer John K. Weinstein (Friends of John K. Weinstein), Philadelphia State Representative Ed Neilson (Neilson for the Northeast), Scranton-area State Representative Frank Dermody (Friends of Frank Dermody), Allegheny County State Representative Bill Kortz (Elect Bill Kortz), Coraopolis Borough Mayor Shawn Reed, Coraopolis Borough Manager Ray McCutcheon, Allegheny County State Senator Wayne Fontana (Committee to Elect Wayne Fontana), Allegheny County State Representative Nick Piscittano (Friends of Nick Piscittano), Allegheny County State Senator Jay Costa, US Representative Conor Lamb, Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen (Committee to Elect Bill Mullen), Magisterial Judge Michelle Santicola (Friends of Michelle Santicola), Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mary McGinley (McGinley for Judge Committee), and Montgomery County State Representative Matt Bradford (Friends of Matt Bradford) have all donated some amount of money, typically in the range of $250–$1000, to Kulik’s campaign during 2019 and/or 2020. I may have even missed a few officials if I didn’t immediately recognize their names or PAC names.
Did you think that by donating to, say, Bill Peduto’s campaign, some of your money would actually be going to support an anti-abortion Democrat in another district outside of Pittsburgh? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening. This is also looking only at one person from the list; it’s extremely likely that all of the other representatives in the list above also get similar support from their local Democratic establishment.
Interestingly none of the state representatives in this donor list voted for the anti-reproductive-rights bills, so I have to wonder why they’re giving money to an anti-abortion Democrat. And there’s still the question of who exactly oversees or contributes to the “county delegation” donation — if it comes from all the elected Democrats in the county, then they are all at least indirectly funding anti-abortion votes.
While these Democrats directly donated to her, Kulik has also received a large amount of indirect social support in the form of endorsements or reminders. Kulik lists a large number of local elected Democrats as her “Honorary” campaign committee and local chairs. This includes people like County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, County Councilmember Pat Catena, County Controller Chelsa Wagner, Democratic House Minority Leader Representative Frank Dermody, and US Representative Mike Doyle.
County Council Member At-Large Bethany Hallam posted her support and effective endorsement of Kulik at a 2020 re-election campaign event.
And unfortunately, many local area elected Democrats often appear in photos with her at events; while not an explicit endorsement, the smiles and pro-Democrat talk at these events suggests at least implict endorsement. For example, at a local union event, State Representatives Summer Lee, Emily Kincaid, and Jessica Benham, as well as County Councilmember Anita Prizio, appear in a photo with Kulik. Perhaps they did not intend on this as an endorsement of Kulik, only support for workers, but this underscores why they should be careful. I’m sure there’s plenty of ways to support striking workers without also boosting an anti-abortion politician.
Unfortunately, there’s been further situations where local Democrats have been at events with Kulik or even attempting to rewrite Kulik’s actual voting record.
Kulik’s Corporate Connections to Fossil Fuels, For-Profit Health
Kulik also has a large number of corporate PACs supporting her campaign. Many of them are from oil and gas companies (such as NISource, parent company of Columbia Gas) or construction unions related to the oil and gas industry, which perhaps makes it clear why she has refused to speak out against fracking or petrochemicals and instead has hailed the industry several times and called for more oil and gas jobs. Kulik voted for several different bills such as HB 1100 that shovel billions of dollars in subsidies toward the proposed petrochemical hub build-out in southwest PA that will create a new “cancer alley” (as it is known around a similar petrochemical hub in Louisiana).
Kulik also receives funding from several healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and insurance related PACs (such as Bayer) which might also explain why she does not support a single payer healthcare system or any sort of major healthcare reform. I have repeatedly asked about a single payer healthcare system (see one example in the next screenshot, below) but have never received an answer; she has never co-sponsored the single payer bill at the state-level, and has not to my knowledge ever spoken in favor of the federal bill.
Kulik’s connections to police and the courts
Donations from judges and sheriffs also help explain why Kulik seems to go out of her way to praise the police, refuses to support serious reform of criminal law (in fact, one of the bills she is most proud of is Alina’s Law which would further erode constitutional rights by empowering police and judges to place folks under house arrest without any due process; the PA ACLU among others has spoken out about the dangerous problems with this law should it be passed as-is), and has even expressed her opposition to decriminalizing & legalizing cannabis.
Kulik has also been the primary sponsor of “Alina’s Law”, which is a renamed version of the past Marsy’s Law that was recently struck down by the courts. Alina’s Law aims to crack down on violence aimed at women, but according to an ACLU analysis, actually does little to protect women but does in fact greatly expand the powers of police and the courts to detain folks. When I asked Kulik about why she supported the bill when it was very problematic yet did little to actually protect women, she claimed the ACLU analysis was for a different bill; while the bill numbers are different, her bill is identical in text to the bill the ACLU analyzed, and so all of the analysis still applies. When I asked her about it again (see Facebook post below) and pointed this out, I never received an answer. To date, Kulik still regularly promotes Alina’s Law publicly and helps fundraise for Alina’s Light.
Despite trying to frame herself as a champion for women facing abuse, Kulik has been silent about women facing abuse from police in her own communities.
In fact, right in the middle of the Black Lives Matter protests that rocked the country since last summer, Kulik avoided speaking about police brutality issues raised by BLM, but she did take the time to post blue line flags in support of police and meet with Republicans and police chiefs about “issues faced by our police forces.” (See the Facebook post below.) I am unaware of her making any similar meeting with BLM activists or police reform advocates on how to get more accountability and end police brutality.
Kulik has been made aware of several complaints against local police officers, including Coraopolis police officers that handcuffed my wife to a handicap bar for 4 hours, and left her largely without any supervision while she was having a mental health crisis. Left in the room, she urinated on the floor, and the officers not only laughed about it but they rubbed a urine-soaked towel used to clean it up in her face. (See the photo below from court records.) Kulik has not to my knowledge taken any action, spoken with officials, or offered to write a new law to address the situation. (The courts have also generally ignored the incident too, District Attorney Zappala has not filed charges on the officers, but that is a story for another day.)
Democrats Must Stop Protecting Kulik
This post has overviewed some of Kulik’s many problematic stances, yet as pointed out in the beginning, many local Democratic officials and even leaders have supported her campaign.
It is long past time for progressives to demand the Democratic Party stop supporting Kulik. No more photos, no more events together, no more financial contributions. In fact, progressive voters should be demanding she resign, and actively looking for a new candidate to replace her that would represent their values. Otherwise, if they’re not doing that—what does that say about the (alleged) values of the Democratic Party? Continued lack of action by Democrats to hold folks within their party accountable shows what the Democratic Party actually thinks, and only underscores the need for a Green Party and independent political action.