By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director, Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
Justice Sallie Mundy
Most of the candidates recommended by the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation PAC won their races on November 7th.
The preliminary election results would indicate that female judicial candidates who believe in interpreting the law and the state Constitution rather than making laws from the bench fared especially well in Election 2017 in Pennsylvania. This stands in stark contrast to the prevailing media-driven myth that only women who openly support the tragic U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade can be elected to the state’s courts.
In what’s been described as the premiere race, Justice Sallie Mundy handily won election to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In addition, her fellow strict Constructionist, Chief Justice Thomas Saylor, won retention to the state’s highest court.
Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon secured a seat on the Commonwealth Court, while Judge Jacqueline Shogan won her Superior Court retention race.
This morning after the election, it appeared that Mary Murray had won a seat on the Superior Court, beating another PAC-recommended candidate, Craig Stedman, by a slim margin.
The Pennsylvania results may also put a damper on the campaign to take away Pennsylvanians’ right to vote for appellate judges. Pro-abortion organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union want to replace the current electoral system with a so-called “merit selection” system which would allow pro-abortion Governors to appoint judges based on a list of names submitted by a small, unelected and unaccountable group of people.
The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation opposes taking away the public’s right to vote for judges, since it would lead to undue influence by abortion advocacy groups such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood and place too much power in the hands of pro-abortion Governors.