TOPEKA, Kan. — New health and safety regulations specifically for Kansas abortion clinics won final approval Wednesday from the state Legislature, and the new requirements would include annual, unannounced state inspections.
The Senate approved the measure 24-15. An identical version already had passed the House, so the bill goes next to Gov. Sam Brownback, an anti-abortion Republican who is expected to sign it.
Kansas has only three abortion clinics.
Abortion opponents contend the bill will protect patients. It directs the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to write standards for exits, lighting, bathrooms and equipment.
It also imposes new rules for how clinics administer RU-486 abortion-inducing pills, requiring them to be provided only by licensed physicians and dispensed with the doctor present.
Critics said the real goal is to force clinics to make expensive renovations and changes in their operations, in hopes of shutting them down. The Associated Press
