HARRISBURG, June 28, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Citing yesterday's Supreme Court decision striking down a Texas pro-life law, a Pennsylvania legislator is asking the state to repeal a law specifically recommended by Kermit Gosnell's grand jury to keep women from dying at a future “house of horrors.”
By a 5-3 vote, the Supreme Court struck down two provisions of Texas H.B. 2, including a requirement that abortion facilities meet the same health standards as other ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). The court's liberal majority held that the provision placed an “undue burden” on abortionists and that “the surgical-center requirement provides no benefit [to mothers] when complications arise.”
After the ruling, Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, released a memo asking his fellow legislators to repeal a 2011 law requiring state abortionists to meet ASC standards.
After reviewing the acts of neglect and negligence that allowed Kermit Gosnell to operate, the grand jury concluded, “We recommend that the Pennsylvania Department of Health plug the hole it has created for abortion clinics.”
“They should be explicitly regulated as ambulatory surgical facilities, so that they are inspected annually and held to the same standards as all other outpatient procedure centers,” the jurors concluded.
Lawmakers responded by passing Act 122 of 2011, which is credited with closing five abortion facilities in the state, decreasing the number from 24 to 19.
At the time it went into effect in June 2012, only one of the state's 22 abortion facilities met its standards, Hillcrest Women’s Medical Center in Harrisburg.
In addition to an estimated “hundreds” of newborns, two women died in Gosnell's care: 22-year-old Semika Shaw and 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar.
The grand jury noted that the building's design contributed to Mongar's death.
“After cutting the locks, responders had to waste precious more minutes trying to maneuver through the narrow cramped hallways that could not accommodate a stretcher,” its report stated.
ASC regulations require hallways to be expanded to accommodate emergency personnel and equipment, an effective mandate requiring costly renovations to abortionists' often constricted offices.
Sen. Leach said state health regulations, rather than shoddy abortion facilities, pose a threat to women's health and public safety.
“Pennsylvania’s abortion laws are forcing women and their families into desperate, life-threatening situations in which they must choose between the law, their health and their Constitutional rights,” Leach said after yesterday's ruling. “We should be expanding access to reproductive health services, not closing clinics.”
The Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt ruling said such regulations would not have stopped Gosnell, because “determined wrongdoers, already ignoring existing statutes and safety measures, are unlikely to be convinced to adopt safe practices by a new overlay of regulations.”
The decision applies specifically to the Texas law; however, its provisions may be used in future lawsuits against similar measures in other states.
Pro-life leaders said that ruling would adversely impact women's safety following a botched abortion. Pennsylvania Republicans say their act differs from the Texas law enough to withstand legal challenge.
“The abortion industry cannot be trusted to regulate itself and they know it. That’s why they fought tooth and nail against commonsense health and safety standards and requirements for abortionists to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List. “We have documented page after page of incidents of abuse, negligence, and brutality since 2008. This decision means the filth and exploitation will continue unchecked.”
