HARRISBURG, Pa. — On the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the battle for abortion rights continued at the Capitol Complex. Pennsylvania House Democrats announced plans to introduce new legislation that will ease some abortion restrictions.
"It’s time for us to finish the job," said Mary Issacson of Philadelphia County, standing alongside her colleagues and representatives for Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates.
The group of lawmakers says their new bill would remove what they call “unnecessary obstacles to safe abortions” by rolling back Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers or "TRAP" laws.
"These types of requirements mandate specific parking lot designs, hallway widths, recovery room structures, and plumbing and ventilation systems," Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates Executive Director Signe Espinoza said. "These requirements can be and are medically inappropriate in the context of an abortion procedure."
Medical organizations, such as the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, have condemned such laws due to "science not based in research".
"What they do is cause barriers to receiving abortion care," Representative Tarik Khan of Philadelphia County said. "They cause delays, which increases risks to patients.”
The law in question was put into place in 2011 after the deaths of multiple infants and a patient at a Philadelphia abortion clinic run by provider Kermit Gosnell, something not mentioned during Monday's announcement.
Dan Bartkowiak from the Pennsylvania Family Institute argues that rolling back the law also rolls back safeguards, and runs the risk of history repeating itself.
"It's because of this law that you have mandated inspections [and] regulations that are put on any other surgical facility," Bartkowiak stated.
In the Grand Jury report for The Gosnell case, recommendations were made that shaped the current law.
"One [recommendation] was to consider abortion facilities as ambulatory surgical centers. There is no reason to exempt abortion facilities," Bartkowiak said. "Yet, you have Planned Parenthood and representatives who said there is no reason to have those standards in place."
Supporters of the proposed bill say removing these requirements would prevent more clinics from closing.
"When you think about the fact that there are 17 clinics left in Pa., where are the women who can’t get access supposed to go?" Delaware County Representative Gina Curry said.
This is despite nine of the facilities failing health inspections in 2023.
The new legislation would also eliminate admitting privileges to hospitals.
"We know those are unnecessary requirements," Representative Kahn said. "No patient needs a doctor's approval or health care provider's approval to seek care at a hospital.
Bartkowiak insists that safety, not politics, should determine whether these rules remain.
"We should be a state that [is] doing all we can to make sure women [can] go into these facilities [and know that] it's not going to be a Kermit Gosnell," he said. "That there is a standard that [the clinics] do have to follow."
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Pa. has seen an increase in abortion procedures. In the latest annual abortion report, the Pennsylvania Department of Health shows that there were more than 1,000 more abortions in 2022 than the year prior.
Watch the full press conference below: