GOP governor candidate Corman compares court abortion ruling leak to Jan. 6 insurrection, says both done 'to intimidate'

May 10—Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman says he would be a "pro-life governor" if elected to the commonwealth's highest office this year.

That distinction could be significant as Pennsylvania might soon debate whether abortion should be legal.

A recently leaked U.S. Supreme Court majority draft ruling indicated Roe v. Wade will be overturned, meaning states will be able to shape their own policies.

"I think anything that we return to the states is good public policy," Corman said during a telephone interview on Tuesday, when he campaigned in Cambria County.

Corman, looking back at his career, said, "I voted to end grotesque procedures like partial-birth abortion and dismemberment. I voted to update the Abortion Control Act to reflect today's technology."

He believes the court leak was done with the "intention to intimidate the justices" and compared it to Jan. 6, 2021 — when supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden as winner of the 2020 presidential election.

"Leaking this information and trying to prevent the justices from doing their job is no different than people who will storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 to try to prevent legislators, congressmen, from doing their job," Corman said.

Corman also spoke about job creation, which he called the "centerpiece of my campaign."

"Obviously, Johnstown, in its heyday, was one of the larger communities," Corman said. "Now, obviously, the population hasn't kept up. The reason is because there's not the jobs there once was because the manufacturing base has gone away. I want to do everything I can to rekindle that, revive that, so there are opportunities there, and so people stay and can enjoy a good life because they have a good job."

Corman said it was also an "honor" to recently receive an endorsement from former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a fellow Republican.

"Jake Corman is a fighter," Santorum said in a released statement. "He's spent his life in public service fighting hard to protect the life of unborn children, and he never backs down from a fight. Jake has also fought and defeated countless tax increases proposed by Democratic Govs. Ed Rendell and Tom Wolf. He led the way to ensure Pennsylvanians could go to the ballot box and successfully stop Tom Wolf from ruling like a pandemic dictator."

Santorum concluded: "Jake never minded a challenge because he wanted to help working families and small businesses. That's why he's in this race for governor. He knows the only poll that matters is the one on May 17, and he intends to win it."