Family · Statewide · PA · September 30, 2026
Pennsylvania signs two new laws targeting human trafficking
Pennsylvania Governor's office signed Acts 41 and 31 of 2026 into law, according to WTAJ. Act 41, sponsored by State Senator Dush, chairman of the Anti-Human Trafficking Caucus, increases penalties for those who groom, manipulate, or force victims — including children as young as four — into trafficking, and grants the state attorney general authority to join prosecutions and investigations. Act 31, sponsored by State Representative Regina Young, requires mandatory human-trafficking awareness training for Pennsylvania hospitality workers, including online lodging platforms, reservation companies, operators, and short-term rental hosts who have contact with guests or access to guest rooms. Dush described trafficking cases involving family members exploiting their own children and said bipartisan cooperation, not credit, drove the legislation. The laws were signed in Harrisburg and apply statewide across Pennsylvania. No further legislative detail, effective dates, or enforcement mechanisms beyond what is described above were included in the report.
Source: WTAJ
Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Care
Scripture is unambiguous that the vulnerable — especially children — deserve protection and that those who exploit them face grave judgment. Human trafficking, including trafficking by family members, is a direct assault on the sanctity of life and the God-given dignity of every person made in His image. When civil government uses its lawful authority to increase penalties on traffickers and equip ordinary citizens — hotel workers, rental hosts — to recognize and report abuse, it is fulfilling a legitimate function Scripture assigns to civil authority: restraining evil and protecting the innocent. Bible-believing Christians should welcome such measures, hold legislators accountable to follow through with enforcement, and continue advocating in their own states for similar protections where they are absent.
Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. — Proverbs 31:8
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From the book
Paul defines the divinely ordained function of the state: "For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:4). Government exists to restrain evil and to praise good. When the state begins praising evil and punishing good, it is in rebellion against its own design. Christians engage politics to call the state back to its specific, limited jurisdiction.
— Chapter 20, “Biblical Foundations: The Stewardship of the Sword”
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