Summary of SB 732 and HB 574
"Either bill will cause a public health catastrophe..." Women's Law Project
SB 732 passed out of the House Health Committee after being amended again to look exactly like HB 574 as it passed the House (see below). All of the Senate language from the original bill was stripped out, and the content of HB 574 was substituted. Therefore, SB 732 now applies to all surgical abortion procedures, even very early ones. It is not limited to abortions after nine weeks.
HB 574 would regulate Pennsylvania’s freestanding abortion providers as ambulatory surgical facilities (ASF), subject to both the ambulatory surgical facility regulations and the ambulatory gynecological surgery in hospitals and clinics regulations. Instead of preventing another atrocity like the Gosnell “house of horrors,” this bill will hurt women.
ACTION
- SB 732 will most likely come up for a vote in the Pennsylvania House in late September or early October, so please call your Representative in the House and ask them to vote NO on SB 732.
- HB 574 is now before the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee. Please call your Pennsylvania Senator to express your opposition to HB 574.
- Join us in Harrisburg on September 27th to voice your opposition to this legislation.
More information about HB 574 and SB 732:
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These bills will increase the financial hurdles to abortion care for patients. Women will not be able to afford safe abortion care and may seek out a substandard illegal provider or be forced to delay their abortions while they try to raise money to pay for higher-cost procedures. The increased costs of complying with these bills will be passed along to patients. Many patients struggle to pay $350 for an early abortion procedure. With increased regulation and increased fees, the cost may double and therefore become inaccessible to many women.
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Poor women and rural women will have even less access to safe abortion care. Only 22% of PA counties have an abortion provider. The enactment of either bill would force some of these providers to close. Women who need abortions will then leave the state where Pennsylvania can no longer regulate their safety.
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Abortion providers are already well-regulated. Current law provides for required
equipment and medical supplies, hospital transfer agreements for emergency services, equipment required for anesthesia, clinical staff licensing requirements, mandatory counseling and informed consent requirements, laboratory and pathology requirements, required blood tests specific to abortion care, extensive reporting requirements for each abortion, parental consent requirements, abortion facility requirements, and complications reporting. Women don’t need more regulations. They need accessible care and better enforcement of existing regulations.
Save the Date!
September 27th
Capitol Rotunda
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
We've Had Enough!