AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
May 20, 2011
Issue
State Senate Vote on Abortion Clinic Regs
Details
Floor debate in the State Senate on SB 732 is scheduled for Monday May 23rd. This is an abortion inspection bill which is in direct response to the Philadelphia “House of Horrors” run by “Dr.” Kermit Gosnell. This very weak legislation emerged from the State Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on May 4 because that is the only legislation that the pro-abortion chairman of this committee, Senator Patricia Vance (R-Cumberland), would schedule for a vote. One of the sponsors, Senator Robert Mensch, has recognized the bill’s weakness and agreed to introduce an amendment on Monday that is very similar to House-passed HB 574 which is a much stronger bill.
Here’s a little comparison: HB 574 upgrades abortion clinics to “ambulatory surgical facilities,” requiring them to abide by various fire, safety, and staffing regulations. HB 732 would simply require annual unannounced inspections of clinics and create a hotline for complaints, but would not require facility upgrades.
Action Steps
Please call your State Senator and tell him or her to “Vote Yes on the Mensch Amendment to SB 732, then pass the amended bill.” Click here for contact information. If you don’t know who your State Senator is, you can find out by entering either your address or county in the upper right hand corner of the ‘contact information’ page.
