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In letter obtained by CP, the D.A. criticizes Baker's abortion bill
In a letter obtained by CP, D.A. Seth Williams criticizes Rep. Matt Baker's bill that would regulate abortion clinics - the same bill that some say could shut down every clinic in the state.
In letter obtained by CP, the D.A. criticizes Baker's abortion bill
In a letter obtained by City Paper, District Attorney Seth Williams criticizes Rep. Matt Baker's bill that would regulate abortion clinics — the same bill that women's health and pro-choice advocates say could shut down every clinic in the state because of its allegedly unnecessary (and unnecessarily costly) requirements.
Williams says the bill "goes beyond the scope of the grand jury report."
Baker says the impetus for his bill was the D.A.'s grand jury report on Kermit Gosnell, the West Philly abortion doctor who's been charged with murdering seven babies and one woman. The report argues that clinics should be regulated as outpatient surgical centers (aka "ambulatory surgical facilities") — which is exactly what Baker's bill proposes.
Pro-choice advocates, however, have argued that the D.A.'s report presses for those regulations mostly to make sure that the state's Health Department would inspect abortion clinics annually — not to impose the many other regulations laid out in Baker's bill.
Conversely, Baker says abortion providers care too much about the "bottom line" and that his bill would protect women.
But until now, Williams has not clarified the grand jury's position on the matter.
In the letter to Baker and other legislators, Williams says the grand jury did not recommend that "abortion clinics be singled out for licensure ... simply because they offer abortions. He also says, "The Grand Jurors did not recommend that the Legislature change the definition of an [outpatient] surgical facility to include all abortion clinics." (His italics.)
Williams adds that, "The Grand Jurors were outraged by the fact that the laws that are already on the books gave the Department of Health the authority it needed to license and monitor Gosnell's clinic, but the Department chose not to."
Click below to read Williams' letter. To enlarge, click on the image itself.
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