HARRISBURG, PA — Lawmakers in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives advanced two pieces of legislation last week that could give survivors of childhood sexual abuse the opportunity to sue their perpetrators over otherwise outdated claims.

It’s a source of optimism for survivors in the commonwealth and yet, at press time, it’s still no sure thing.

Victims of abuse and their advocates have gotten to this point—the precipice of justice—plenty of times in the past, just for their hopes to be squashed by partisan squabbling in the legislature, or in a clerical error by state officials.

“In Pennsylvania, we’ve been so close so many times, and then right at the last moment it’s been taken away,” said Katie Shipp, the managing partner at Marsh Law Firm in Pittsburgh, who defends sexual abuse survivors in Pennsylvania and New York State. “When [survivors] get so close, and they think that they’re finally going to have that opportunity, for it to be taken away is truly devastating.”

As it’s currently written, Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations for bringing charges against an abuser fails to account for the fact that survivors often wait until well into adulthood to report the abuse they experienced as a child, if they come forward at all.

According to Department of Justice data, around 86 percent of all childhood sexual abuse goes unreported altogether. Those who do come forward don’t do so, on average, until the age of 52.

Child USA—a national think tank for child protection—reported in 2020 that especially young children who were abused most severely, tend to wait the longest to ever disclose their history of abuse.

Pennsylvania did loosen its statute of limitations in 2019, giving survivors of child sex abuse until age 55—up from the previous age of 30—to file claims. However, Shipp said, this reform bill was written in such a way that survivors who were already older than 30 at the time of its passing are still considered outside the statute of limitations.

“There are a lot of survivors in the state of Pennsylvania who have been anxiously awaiting a window. For survivors to actually have their day in court would be incredibly meaningful,” she said. “It also is for the people who haven’t had the ability to come forward yet; when they see other people doing it, when they see those who should be held accountable being held accountable, and when they see the support of the public for survivors, it does empower them to come forward… there really is something to be said for the realization of ‘I wasn’t the only one.’”

The two bills passed recently in the House could get them their day in court, if either one passes through the Senate. Both pieces of legislation are ultimately aimed at the same goal, but through different routes.

The first bill would create a two-year window for adult survivors of child abuse to revive outdated claims, through an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. Constitutional amendments take longer to be finalized than regular legislation, because after advancing through the General Assembly, the issue is put to voters on the ballots of an upcoming election. The House passed the bill in a vote of 161-40, sending it to the Senate for consideration. If it passes in time, the issue could be presented to PA residents on their ballots in November.

The second bill would create the same two-year window, but do so more quickly, as a regular piece of legislation. If accepted by the Senate, the two-year window would go into effect immediately after getting signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

High-ranking GOP members of the PA Senate, however, maintain that creating the window through regular legislation would be unconstitutional, and that it must be put to voters as a constitutional amendment.

House Speaker Mark Rozzi, who himself was abused as a child by a Catholic priest, has declared that his number-one priority as speaker is to create a window for victims. In response to Republicans, he’s challenged the senators to vote on the bill and leave it to the courts to decide on its constitutionality.

“If [senators] think it’s unconstitutional, I dare them to run the statutory bill and let the Supreme Court decide whether it’s constitutional or not,” Rozzi said. “There’s not one black robe that sits in that Senate… That’s why we have Supreme Court justices.”

Just last month, Republican senators evoked the ire of advocates and various good government groups when they tried bundling the survivors’ window into a package of unrelated, and highly partisan  constitutional amendments. One would have instituted stricter voter ID requirements; the other would have restricted a governor’s regulatory power.

While Democrats have decried bundling these disparate issues into one, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman places the blame at Rozzi’s feet for the further delays.

“The Senate has fulfilled and completed our commitment to address the issue of statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims,” he said in a release. “There is no valid justification for preventing voters from having a direct voice on voter identification, regulation reform and opening the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse survivors through constitutional questions. The only reason these questions will not appear on the May ballot is because of the inaction of the Speaker of the House.”

Meanwhile, childhood sexual abuse survivors and their advocates are trying to remain hopeful that after years of partisan inaction and dashed expectations, they will finally get their chance at justice.

“I can’t tell you the amount of calls I’ve gotten over the years from people who say, ‘I’m 60 years old, and you’re the first person that I’m ever telling, but I finally have the courage and finally want to do something about it,’” Shipp said. “Unfortunately, all I can say to them is, ‘I’m so proud of you for coming forward, and I’m so honored that you were able to share your story with me. But there’s nothing that we can do right now; all we can do is sit and wait and hope.”