NATION IN BRIEF : PENNSYLVANIA : Legislature Passes Stiff Abortion Curbs

The Pennsylvania state Senate gave final legislative approval to the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country, and Gov. Robert P. Casey has said he will sign it into law. Over the bitter objections of abortion rights advocates, the Senate voted 33 to 17 in favor of the measure, allowed under a Supreme Court decision in July that gave states wider control over abortion. The legislation, attached as a House amendment to a Senate crime bill, would bar an abortion after the 24th week of pregnancy, except to prevent irreparable harm or death of the mother. It would impose a 24-hour waiting period, require husbands to be notified of their wives’ intentions to have abortions, eliminate abortions performed because of the fetus’ sex and strictly control the use of fetal tissue for medical research.