HARRISBURG — A bill to impose more stringent regulations on abortion clinics was approved by a comfortable margin in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday over objections from opponents that it would sharply limit women’s access to the procedure.

The move to place Pennsylvania abortion clinics under the same standards as freestanding ambulatory surgical centers was prompted largely by the grotesque conditions prosecutors said were uncovered last year at the Women’s Medical Society facility in West Philadelphia when drug investigators executed a search warrant.

The representatives’ vote was 148-43, with dozens of Democrats supporting the Republican-sponsored measure.

“Whether some want to admit it or not, abortion is major surgery,” said Rep. RoseMarie Swanger, R-Lebanon. “How anyone could favor standards for this procedure that are less than those required for other procedures would, in my opinion, be shortchanging women.”

Opponents said many of the proposed new rules regarding the size of rooms and entrances and nurse staffing are unnecessary and so expensive that they will result in clinics closing their doors.

The new Department of Health standards that the clinics would have to meet address fire safety, personnel and equipment and quality assurance.