ABC27 WHTM Pa. House passes abortion clinic bill

Pa. House passes abortion clinic bill

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has approved legislation to impose more stringent regulations for abortion clinics.

House Bill 574 would require clinics to maintain the same standards as other freestanding ambulatory surgical centers.

Rep. Matt Baker, R-Bradford/Tioga, said he authored the bill following a grand jury indictment against the Women's Medical Society in West Philadelphia and Dr. Kermit Gosnell.

"No woman should have to endure the horrifying conditions and type of treatment that was alleged to have taken place in that clinic," Baker said in a statement.

The grand jury found that at least two women died as a result of botched late-term abortions, that babies were born alive and then killed by having their spinal cords snipped by scissors, and that untrained personnel had performed medical procedures, sometimes with unsterilized tools that spread venereal disease from patient to patient.

Gosnell and several employees have been charged with murder and numerous other offenses.

The grand jury additionally found that the state departments of Health and State intentionally and repeatedly ignored complaints about Gosnell and the clinic. Prosecutors said state regulators had inspected Gosnell's clinic only three times since 1979.

Gov. Tom Corbett later ordered the dismissal of several state employees named in the grand jury investigation.

The House passed the measure by a vote of 148-43. The legislation now goes to the state Senate for consideration.