Workers are abortion facilities say they’re still assessing – and waiting.

If new regulations are signed into law by Gov. Corbett, the state’s 22 abortion facilities would need to get licensed, pass unannounced inspections, and make sure they’re operating according to the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers.

For some clinics, that would mean staff additions and facility upgrades.  But nothing’s shovel-ready yet. 

“It’s really not clear at this point to exactly to sort of what letter of the law [the regulations] will become a reality,” said Curtiss Hannum, director of center affairs and development at the Philadelphia Women’s Center.   She said her colleagues are considering the options they have to fight the still-hypothetical rules.

“There are lots of discussions about what a waiver would look like,” said Hannum.  “There’s a possibility of being grandfathered in.  So the discussions are really, ‘What is the best strategy?’”

Some of the most commented-on rules would require facility upgrades – something abortion care providers say would come at great cost without much patient benefit. 

“Wider hallways, larger operating rooms – those really do nothing to improve an already very safe procedure.  And it’s interesting because I don’t think a single legislator has been able to speak to why those things actually would improve patient care,” said Hannum.

Kim Custer, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Pennsylvania, echoed Hannum’s sentiment about the potential regulations.

“A lot of what they entail don’t actually improve patient safety and care beyond what we’re already doing so we are just being very careful and reviewing everything thoroughly,” said Custer.  She said she anticipates there will need to be changes at the regional Planned Parenthood chapter’s three facilities in Reading, Allentown, and Harrisburg.  But Custer noted, with some frustration, that the regulations are sometimes vague. 

“The challenging piece of this legislation is that it was crafted by individuals who are not physicians,” Custer said.  “They’re not medical experts.  So they crafted a piece of legislation that Planned Parenthood feels is politically motivated.  It wasn’t crafted truly to improve patient safety.”

Many legislators against abortion led the charge to make the 22 clinics providing abortions in the state work under the same standards as ambulatory surgical facilities.

They developed the regulations after a grand jury investigated Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s Philadelphia abortion clinic run for deplorable conditions.