Topeka ? The state would set minimum health and safety standards for abortion clinics under a bill endorsed Wednesday by a House panel.

The Health and Human Services Committee’s voice vote sent the measure to the House for debate.

The bill is backed by abortion opponents and would have the state Department of Health and Environment regulate the clinics. The department would set minimum standards for the space required for interviewing patients, dressing rooms and bathrooms, as well as clinic lighting.

Other requirements would be spelled out in state law. For example, each clinic’s medical director would have to be licensed to practice surgery, and a nurse or physician’s assistant would have to be present when abortions are performed.

Currently, clinic doctors are regulated by the state Board of Healing Arts, which can fine doctors or suspend or revoke their licenses.

Supporters of the bill contend such regulation isn’t sufficient and that the measure will make abortion safer. But critics believe the real goal is to impose burdensome regulations and force clinics out of business.

In 2003, legislators approved a similar bill, but Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, an abortion rights supporter, vetoed it. The governor said she would sign a bill that applied to all clinics and offices where outpatient surgery is performed, not just abortion clinics.

Supporters of the bill contend that would be too expensive for the state.