The posturing in opposition to the Mensch Amendment to Senate Bill 732 and House Bill 574 in Pennsylvania has been a public lesson in the twisted ethics of the pro-abortion mindset.
The Mensch Amendment and House Bill 574 are similar bills that do one thing and one thing alone: they hold abortion facilities to the same fire, safety, personnel and equipment requirements as any other freestanding ambulatory surgical facilities in Pennsylvania.
The legislation covers such minimum standards as having a nurse on duty, fire extinguishers available, and halls wide enough to handle emergency personnel and equipment if something goes wrong.
The legislation doesn’t add any unique burdens on abortion clinics. The legislation simply requires the same health and safety regulations of an abortion clinic as that of a clinic performing colonoscopies or Lasik eye surgery.
If you are going to run a bowling alley, a bar or a hot dog stand in this state, you have regulations you have to meet. If you want to provide outpatient surgical procedures, you have regulations you have to meet. The same should be true of abortion clinics. It’s common sense and common decency.
Yet, the screaming has commenced. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the legislation “insincere to its core” because it has the support of pro-life legislators, though the House bill received across-the-board support, Democrat and Republican.
Again, since this point seems to be missed in the weird world of the pro-abortion mindset: the legislation does absolutely nothing but hold abortion clinics responsible for meeting standard requirements for the safety of women — of anyone — undergoing outpatient surgical procedures.
If the abortion clinics are presently “safe” for their patients, there is no need for the Post-Gazette editorial writers — or Planned Parenthood and its minions — to be concerned about either piece of legislation. The clinics will meet routine standards for the health and safety of their clients and go about their business, such as that business is.
If the abortion clinics are currently open for business and fail to meet those minimal safety standards, then the Post-Gazette should have a much bigger problem than alleged pro-life “insincerity.”
This legislation needs to be supported. Go to pacatholic.org for more information.
This article was originally published as an editorial in the May 27, 2011, issue of the Pittsburgh Catholic
