Posts

Lawmaker: One Ridiculous Bill Deserves Another

/in /by

The Women’s Right to Know Act would require Pennsylvania women seeking abortions to receive an ultrasound within 24-hours of the scheduled procedure.  It’s sparked a new health care debate at the state capitol.  Supporters say women deserve to be informed; critics call it a legislative overreach. 

Philadelphia Democrat Larry Farnese has added a new twist to conversation by introducing a bill he calls similarly invasive and unnecessary.  Senator Farnese’s bill deals with men seeking treatment for erectile dysfunction.  “Men who seek to have this medication will have to watch a video enumerating the side effects of ED medication, they’ll have to undergo a cardiac stress test, we’ll have to make them undergo a prostate exam,” Farnese says.  

Farnese says his point is that Republicans’ attack on women’s health care has to stop.  “Whether it’s ultrasounds or erectile dysfunction medication, I think that we should stay out of people’s lives.” 

Democrats seized on governor Tom Corbett’s comments about the ultrasound bill last week.  Here’s the entire exchange with WGAL-TV reporter Matt Belanger during the governor’s media availability:ultrasound

While Corbett’s ‘close your eyes’ reference received national media attention, we asked Sen. Farnese about the last portion of those comments.   Would it make any difference to him if provisions in the bill ensured a more traditional external ultrasound as opposed to a transvaginal procedure? 

“It’s absolutely positively unnecessary, at least in my opinion, whether it’s internal or external,” Farnese replied. 

House leaders tabled the ultrasound legislation (HB 1077) earlier this month, prior to both Corbett’s comments and Farnese’s bill.

Flurry of Bills Signed

/in /by

In the wake of all the yearend legislative activity, Governor Tom Corbett signed 23 bills on Thursday.  Perhaps the most controversial new law (SB 732) will hold abortion facilities to the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers throughout the state.  “It is extremely disappointing that Governor Corbett signed this politically-motivated bill into law,” Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates Executive Director Sari Stevens said in a statement.  “Make no mistake, this new law has everything to do with politics.”

The bill was drafted in response to a grand jury’s tragic and filthy discoveries at one Philadelphia abortion clinic.  Supporters say it’s about safety.  But critics say the costly new regulations will actually close down safe abortion facilities, and ultimately jeopardize women’s health.  This new law takes effect in 180-days. 

Another new law will provide a boost to Pennsylvania’s one-million family caregivers.  The Pennsylvania Caregiver Support Act will increase the maximum monthly reimbursements from $200 to $500, and for the first time open up the program to caregivers who do not live in the same household.  “Here in Pennsylvania we had such restrictive eligibility requirements – one being that you had to live under the same roof – we were leaving about a million dollars on the table every year because families could not qualify,” says Vicki Hoak, executive director of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association.  The Caregiver Support Program is funded through Lottery dollars; it requires no new state spending.   

It’s going to be easier to buy beer on Sunday, with the enactment of HB 242.  Beer distributors will be allowed to be open from 9am until 9pm on Sundays, compared to the previous noon to 5pm restrictions.  “The legislature recognized that consumers are shopping at different hours, outside of traditional hours,” says Pennsylvania Malt Beverage Distributors Association President Mark Tanczos.  HB 242 will also allow restaurants to start serving alcohol earlier on Sundays, in order to accommodate the Sunday brunch crowd. 

Some of the other bills signed on Thursday will reauthorize Philadelphia’s Automated Red Light Enforcement System, enact a capital budget for the current fiscal year, and codify the new congressional maps.

Tough New Abortion Clinic Regulations Could Soon Become Law

/in /by

Ever since a Philadelphia grand jury uncovered abhorrent conditions at the Women’s Medical Society clinic in West Philadelphia, state lawmakers have been working on response.  They’ve come up with an amended version of SB 732, a bill that would hold abortion clinics to the same licensing regulations as other surgical health care facilities.  “If they’re going to do a surgical procedure, they should be subjected to the same regulations as the other 212 ambulatory surgical centers,” says State Rep. Matt Baker (R-Bradford), the leading proponent of this language in the House. 

But critics say the regulations that govern ambulatory surgical facilities were intended for clinics that perform high-risk procedures.  “Abortion doesn’t have nearly the complications that other procedures do,” says ACLU of Pennsylvania Legislative Director Andy Hoover. 

The bill’s opponents argue that the would-be regulations are too onerous and costly – likely forcing many women’s health clinics to close their doors for good.  “As is said so often about other issues, we need to enforce the laws we already have,” State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) said in a statement.  Frankel’s amendment, which he says would have addressed the so-called ‘house of horrors’ clinic in Philadelphia, was defeated.  Frankel says the state simply failed to do its job inspecting that clinic. 

SB 732 passed the House, Tuesday, with a vote of 151 – 44.  It is expected to receive a concurrence vote in the Senate on Wednesday, its last scheduled day of session in 2011. 

The House also passed HB 1977, which would prohibit health insurers from covering abortions under forthcoming health insurance exchanges that are being created by the federal health insurance reform law.  It advanced out of the House with a 146 – 45 vote, and currently awaits Senate committee action.

Abortion Clinic Bills Stir Controversy

/in /by

The Pro-Life and Pro-Choice crowds are on opposite sides of new abortion clinic regulations that could soon make their way to Governor Tom Corbett’s desk.  The State House and Senate Pro-Life Caucuses are calling for action on SB 732, which would regulate abortion centers like the state’s ambulatory surgical centers.  “I would think any woman who has a medical procedure performed in one of these clinics would want to be assured that the facility meets state minimum standards,” says State Rep. Jerry Stern (R-Blair), chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus.

Similar legislation has already passed both Republican-controlled chambers in Harrisburg, and a spokesman for the House Majority Leader says they could take up SB 732 as early as next week.  Officials spent the summer working on amended language they believe can pass both chambers. 

But the prospective passage of this legislation drew hundreds of opponents to the state capitol on Tuesday.  “We are health care consumers, we vote and we have had enough,” exclaimed Brenda Green, executive director of CHOICE, a Philadelphia non-profit. 

One of the lawmakers joining in the rally was State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), who believes the legislation’s intent is to shut down PA’s abortion clinics through burdensome and costly regulations.  “They’re giving up on the Supreme Court, in overturning Roe v. Wade.  They’re going to overturn Roe v. Wade through these types of laws,” Frankel says. 

“Contrary to what the naysayers and opponents are saying, this is not about stopping abortion, this is about patient safety.  Common sense patient safety,” says State Rep. Matt Baker, who sponsored the House version of the abortion clinic legislation. 

The bills were written in response to the alleged ‘house of horrors’ uncovered at one Philadelphia clinic operated by disgraced Dr. Kermit Gosnell.  The clinic had gone uninspected for years, but a Grand Jury ultimately charged Gosnell with eight counts of murder. 

Rep. Frankel believes mandatory inspections can prevent the atrocities of the Gosnell clinic without restricting women’s access to abortions.