Corbett signs tougher abortion clinic rules

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa.

A bill that could mean expensive facility and staff expansions for clinics that perform abortions in Pennsylvania became state law Thursday after a bitter fight in the Legislature over how to respond to grotesque conditions discovered at a Philadelphia clinic last year.

Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, signed the measure without comment on an issue that has inflamed both opponents and supporters of abortion rights.

The new standards take effect in 180 days and would require freestanding clinics that perform abortions to comply with the same safety standards as freestanding outpatient surgery centers, which include requirements for wider hallways and doorways, bigger operating rooms, full-time nurses and more.

The law also requires one unannounced inspection of each abortion facility, a mandate that abortion-rights supporters in the Legislature had pressed as an alternative to the tougher facility standards that passed the Republican-majority Legislature.

Operators of abortion clinics worry they will not be able to afford the cost to comply with the standards, and say that much will depend on how the state Department of Health decides how to apply them. Under the law, the department also can waive the standards.

Currently, 24 abortion facilities are registered in Pennsylvania.