(*Updated to include comment from House Speaker Mike Turzai's office. And to clarify legislative process.)

So just how badly does Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai want a vote on his Down syndrome abortion ban bill?

Badly enough that the suburban Pittsburgh Republican is willing to potentially blow up a bill that would protect under-aged victims of human trafficking.

The House's presiding officer has attached his proposal banning abortion based on a diagnosis of Down Syndrome, to the so-called 'Safe Harbor' legislation sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Stewart J. Greenleaf, R-Montgomery.

The bill has not yet been approved.

On Monday, Greenleaf's office confirmed that Turzai had filed his amendment, as did a senior Republican House aide.

As it's currently written, Greenleaf's bill requires law enforcement to report any encounter with a minor who has been subject to sexual exploitation. The legislation also calls for the provision of safe, long-term housing, education, life-skills training, and counseling to the children who have been exploited.

The bill is set for second consideration on Monday's House voting calendar, which is when the chamber votes on amendments to proposed legislation.

The move has riled Greenleaf's office, which says Turzai is playing a needless game of hardball with a bill that was going to move from Greenleaf's committee to the full Senate for a vote.

Some have questioned whether Greenleaf's office in earnest, however, which likely prompted Turzai to make his move.

Turzai's abortion-ban bill cleared the House on a 139-56 vote in April, over the objections of abortion-rights advocates, who complained that it had never received a public hearing. Nor had disability rights advocates, whom the bill was intended to protect, had the chance to weigh in either.

"It's a weird way to make a point," Greenleaf's senior aide, Patrick Cawley, said Monday afternoon. "It's just bizarre for him," to put that abortion language into what, on its face, is an entirely unrelated piece of legislation.

Cawley said Monday that Greenleaf planned to hold a vote on Turzai's bill and was "not sure what his [Turzai's] motive would be," for trying to attach his language to Greenleaf's bill.

"I'm not sure you could get a better example of the dirty underbelly of politics than using the plight of exploited children to advance an unconstitutional abortion ban that will never become law," Sari Stevens, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates, the reproductive rights' group political wing, said in a statement.

*Through a spokesman, Turzai's office declined a request for comment.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed a previous Greenleaf-backed human trafficking bill into law. But Wolf opposes Turzai's Down syndrome abortion-ban bill. That means if such a bill reaches Wolf's desk, it could face a potential gubernatorial veto.

Those close to the matter speculated that Turzai could be trying to force a floor vote in the Senate on his bill. While under the control of Republicans, the chamber is reportedly lukewarm on Turzai's bill.

That could be for two reasons.

For one, the Senate has already voted once this legislative session on a bill banning abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed that bill last year. And traditionally, lawmakers are unwilling to put up more than one such vote in each, two-year session.

The second reason has much to do with election year politics.

Democrats have targeted at least five Republican senators in battleground districts in the Philadelphia suburbs. Four of the five are thought to be highly vulnerable. And a vote on a controversial abortion bill could leave them exposed

The House was set to begin its voting session at 1 p.m., with an Appropriations Committee meeting and a GOP caucus set to follow the usual ceremonial proceedings.

Turzai's proposed amendment was expected to be a topic of that internal GOP discussion, those close to the matter said.