HARRISBURG - Democrats in the state House fell short Tuesday in bids to modify a bill that they said would improperly limit access to abortion under the guise of making abortion facilities safer.
This strongly suggested the GOP majority will have little trouble passing the measure in an expected Wednesday vote and sending it to the state Senate.
Supporters of the bill as originally drafted said drastic changes are warranted in the wake of a scandal involving the West Philadelphia abortion clinic operated by D. Kermit Gosnell, where a grand jury reported filthy and unsafe conditions. Gosnell is being held without bail on murder charges for allegedly performing illegal abortions. The measure would hold such clinics to the same regulations that apply to freestanding ambulatory surgical centers.