Philadelphia City Council on the final‑passage calendar adopted a privileged resolution recognizing abortion access as a human right while advocates pressed the council to move quickly to hold a hearing and to allocate local funding for reproductive‑health providers.

Councilmember Kendra Brooks, sponsor of the resolution, said the U.S. withdrawal from the UPR (Universal Periodic Review) and federal policy changes make local action urgent and reiterated that a hearing the council authorized in September has not yet been scheduled. "That hearing has still not been scheduled," Brooks said on the floor, and she urged colleagues to restore local funding for reproductive health programs.

Public testimony before the vote included leaders and staff from the Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, All Above All, Women Against Abuse and other advocacy groups. Katia Perez of the Abortion Liberation Fund said, "I urge the city to hold the hearing on reproductive health care without further delay and to take meaningful action to fund and protect access to basic health care for all Philadelphians." Planned Parenthood lead clinician Catherine Kennedy described care that would be lost without support and asked council to "move forward with holding a public hearing so we can continue this critical conversation."

Why it matters: Testimony described immediate service and public‑health gaps after federal and local funding cuts, with speakers saying clinics are covering costs to keep patients served but that approach is unsustainable. Advocates called for the council to use its oversight and budget authority to fill gaps locally and for the Committee on Public Health to schedule the authorized hearing.

What the resolution does: The privileged resolution formally recognizes November 2025 human‑rights and reproductive‑health themes (characterized on the floor as a statement of principle and local solidarity); it does not on its face appropriate funding. Several speakers explicitly asked council to follow the declaration with a scheduled hearing and budgetary action.

Next steps: Sponsors and advocates said they will push for the Committee on Public Health to schedule the hearing authorized previously and for budget amendments or mid‑year transfers to aid providers such as Planned Parenthood.

Quote: "Protecting abortion access and reproductive health care is not just a federal issue. It's everyone's issue," said Katia Perez representing the Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania.