Philadelphia was sued this week over a planned $500K donation to an abortion fund

Two Philadelphia residents backed by a conservative law firm sued the city and Mayor Jim Kenney this week, claiming a planned six-figure donation to an abortion fund violates state law.

The plaintiffs, Charles and Theresa Kuhar, asked a Court of Common Pleas judge to halt the city’s plans to donate $500,000 to the Abortion Liberation Fund of PA, which helps patients pay for an abortion if they cannot use insurance to cover the procedure or can’t otherwise afford it.

Kenney’s administration announced earlier this month that the city would disburse the donation to ALF-PA, and the cash would come from the taxpayer-funded general fund. He said in a statement that the donation was one way the city could “support Philadelphians in their fundamental right to bodily autonomy.”

Pennsylvania law has long prohibited the use of state funds — or federal funds allocated by the state — for abortion care, with exceptions for rape, incest, or in cases when the pregnancy could lead to death. The city does not have a municipal ordinance banning such uses of taxpayer dollars.

The plaintiffs argue that in using cash from its general fund, Philadelphia can’t prove it didn’t use state or state-appropriated federal funds to make the donation, said Thomas Breth, a western Pennsylvania attorney representing the plaintiffs. Breth is a special counsel for the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, a Catholic law firm that takes cases involving cultural issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

A city spokesperson declined to answer questions, saying the city does not generally comment on pending litigation.

» READ MORE: Philly is donating half-a-million dollars to a group that helps patients pay for abortions

Common Pleas Judge Joshua Roberts scheduled a hearing for Aug. 31. He wrote the plaintiffs must be prepared to prove the funds in question were state or federal funds.

Kenney’s announcement of the donation came about six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade, ending a nationwide constitutional right to an abortion. The ruling did not change the law in Pennsylvania, where the procedure remains legal through about 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

ALF-PA, which is part of a national network, was founded in 1985 after the General Assembly voted to ban the use of Medicaid funding for abortions.

The group estimates that out-of-pocket costs for an abortion can range from $400 to $3,000. It says it’s provided financial assistance to more than 35,000 people since it was created, including 3,200 people seeking abortions in Pennsylvania over the course of the last fiscal year.