Ken Cuccinelli has put me, the Board of Health, and all Virginians in an incredible difficult position.  It would be absurd to apply these construction guidelines, intended for new construction only, to factilities that have been safely practicing for years.  Yet, there is no rational explanation for why they would not be applied.  

The VDH and the Board must ask the Attorney General's office to explain how they can differentially apply the 2005 code.  If the answer is that women's health care facilities are all 'new' since they had not previously been been legally defined by the legislature, or previously regulated by the state, then they should look for precedence and whether that argument has any validity.  When it doesn't, they must act on this petition or take action to amend the new regulations for licensure of abortion clinics to appropriately grandfather them in as well.