Topeka ? The Kansas House today sustained a veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of a bill that would have increased regulation of abortion clinics.

House members voted 82-42 to override the veto, falling two votes short of the 84 votes needed to get a two-thirds majority to reverse a governor’s veto. The measure passed earlier in the session with 88 votes in the House and 27 in the Senate.

State Rep. Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, said the override was necessary to ensure that women were getting safe health care.

“Current policy is inadequate,” she said, noting problems at a Kansas City, Kan., abortion clinic that have taken more than a year for state officials to address.

But defenders of Sebelius’ veto said it was unfair to focus only on abortion clinics. “I’m waiting for the bill that seeks to regulate all of the clinics,” state Rep. Judith Loganbill, D-Wichita, said.

The bill would have required abortion clinics to obtain an annual license from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, hire surgeons as their medical directors and report patient deaths to the state within a day.

It also mandated that KDHE set standards for equipment, medical screenings, ventilation and lighting.

In 2003, Sebelius vetoed a similar bill, saying that clinic standards should be set by medical professionals instead of legislators.

Sebelius made the same argument this year and said she would have considered a regulatory bill that would have applied to all clinics that conducted surgical procedures.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Journal-World.