HARRISBURG — A bill that could mean expensive facility and staff expansions for clinics that perform abortions in Pennsylvania became state law Thursday after a bitter fight in the Legislature over how to respond to grotesque conditions discovered at a Philadelphia clinic last year.

Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, signed the measure without comment on an issue that has inflamed both opponents and supporters of abortion rights.

The new standards take effect in 180 days and would require freestanding clinics that perform abortions to comply with the same safety standards as freestanding outpatient surgery centers, which include requirements for wider hallways and doorways, bigger operating rooms, full-time nurses and more.

The law also requires one unannounced inspection of each abortion facility, a mandate that abortion-rights supporters in the Legislature had pressed as an alternative to the tougher facility standards that passed the Republican-majority Legislature.

Operators of abortion clinics worry they will not be able to afford the cost to comply with the standards, and say that much will depend on how the state Department of Health decides how to apply them. Under the law, the department also can waive the standards.

“(The) Department of Health will accept licensure applications for these facilities and will handle all applications on a case-by-case basis as we do for any other health care facility seeking licensure,” agency spokeswoman Christine Cronkright said.

Currently, 24 abortion facilities are registered in Pennsylvania, and hospitals may perform abortions as part of their surgical services program, Cronkright said.

In the Philadelphia case, prosecutors say newborn babies were killed in illegal, late-term abortions performed inside a filthy, now-shuttered “house of horrors” run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell.

His Women’s Medical Society has been shut down and Gosnell has been charged with murder in the deaths of seven babies and one patient, as well as drug conspiracy and distribution in connection with what authorities say are thousands of illegal prescriptions he wrote for painkillers and sedatives.

House Health Committee Chairman Matt Baker, R-Tioga, said the legislation was necessary to avoid a repeat of what happened in Philadelphia.

“No one should be subjected to the conditions and treatment that have occurred at these facilities,” Baker said. “I am glad we were able to have legislation pass the House that will further protect Pennsylvania women.”