Mark Pinsley, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Senate District 16, is one of five candidates on Reproductive Freedom for All’s slate of Reproductive Freedom Champions running for Pennsylvania’s state senate and received the endorsement of Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania. He believes the decision to continue a pregnancy belongs to a person and their doctor, not a politician. He supports:
- Writing reproductive freedom into Pennsylvania law, and into the state constitution.
- Protecting access to contraception.
- Expanding access to IVF.
- Writing reproductive and adoption rights for LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians into law.
- Protecting doctors and providers from prosecution.
- Having the state cover any federal funding pulled from reproductive health care.
Into law, and into the constitution
Pinsley would write reproductive freedom into Pennsylvania law. He also wants it in the state constitution, because a law can be repealed by a future legislature and a constitutional amendment can’t be undone so easily.
Amending Pennsylvania’s constitution is slow on purpose: the legislature has to pass the same language in two sessions in a row, and then voters decide. That’s why who holds this Senate seat matters beyond a single term.
Viability, not trimesters
- Before viability, the decision belongs to the patient and their doctor. The state can’t ban abortion.
- After viability, the state can regulate, but must allow exceptions to protect the mother’s life and health.
Viability means the point when a fetus could survive outside the womb — currently around 23 to 24 weeks, though it varies. Under this approach, a doctor decides based on the actual pregnancy, instead of lawmakers writing a fixed number into law.
Contraception, IVF and building a family
Reproductive freedom includes the freedom to have children, not only to decide when. Pinsley would protect access to contraception and expand access to IVF, so that having a family doesn’t depend on whether someone can pay for fertility treatment out of pocket.
He would also write reproductive and adoption rights for LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians into law, so same-sex couples and LGBTQ+ people have a protected path to becoming parents.
Protecting providers
If care is legally provided in Pennsylvania, Pinsley says the doctor should be protected from prosecution and from losing their license — no matter where the patient lives or what federal law says. That matters in a region where patients cross state lines.
Protecting funding
If the federal government threatens to cut hospital funding over reproductive health care, Pinsley says Pennsylvania should cover the gap. Otherwise, hospitals will simply drop services to protect their budgets — and care will disappear without anyone voting to end it.
Where Jarrett Coleman stands
On January 11, 2023, Republican incumbent Jarrett Coleman voted to table a proposed constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom — covering abortion, prenatal care, childbirth, contraception, miscarriage care and infertility treatment. It would have gone to voters as a ballot question. That’s the same contraception and infertility care Pinsley wants protected.
The motion to table passed 27–21. Tabling sets a measure aside without voting on it. (Roll Call 16)
That’s the amendment Pinsley supports. It has to pass twice before voters see it. It hasn’t passed once.
Side by side: How do Mark Pinsley and Jarrett Coleman compare on reproductive freedom?
Pinsley faces Coleman on November 3, 2026, in a district covering parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties.
