Pa. Clinics Brace for New Standards for Abortions

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Operators of women's health clinics that perform abortions in Pennsylvania are bracing for new regulations that they say could mean expensive facility changes and more staff.

Gov. Tom Corbett is expected this week to sign a bill that would place abortion clinics under the same standards as freestanding ambulatory surgical centers. The measure's passage by state lawmakers was spurred by the case of a now-shuttered West Philadelphia clinic that prosecutors say was unsanitary and routinely killed newborns in illegal late-term abortions.

Jennifer Boulanger of the Allentown Women's Center says no Pennsylvania clinic currently complies with the tougher regulations.

Clinic operators say they are worried over how they will absorb the costs to comply with the new rules.