Like any other stand-alone surgical clinic in Pennsylvania, abortion facilities are regulated and inspected on a regular basis. But Maria Gallagher of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation says Planned Parenthood is joining with members of the legislature to approve a bill to exempt abortion facilities from those health and safety requirements.
"This is unbelievable," she responds. "These regulations went into effect in the aftermath of the massive tragedy where Kermit Gosnell, the abortionist, was suspected of killing hundreds, if not thousands of newborn babies and causing the deaths of female patients."
Before the regulations went into effect, she says hair and nail salons received greater scrutiny than abortion facilities. Gosnell's clinic had not been inspected for 18 years, and now, he is serving life in prison for killing the babies who were born alive during his failed abortions.
This move to repeal the regulations comes at a time when half the state's abortion clinics failed inspections. Several of them ultimately closed their doors because they either could not or would not meet basic health and safety standards.
"I think the push to eliminate Pennsylvania's time-tested law demonstrates that the abortion industry is not about women's health," Gallagher concludes. "It's about increasing abortion no matter what the cost."
