Because my friend Leslie said it so much better than I feel able, it is her words I submit:

"Imposing the massive costs of compliance with this unnecessary regulation on any hospital or medical facility in the state (including women’s health centers!) regardless of whether it will actually provide any benefit for patient safety and well-being is absurd.  That the Attorney General has set this new precedence, risking all medical facilities with his recent (mis)interpretation of the law, underscores the extent to which the abortion facility regulations are about politics and not health, and are designed to force women’s health centers to close their doors.

I understand that there can not be selective application of the law.  I am against requiring ANY existing hospital to come into compliance with Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities which are specifically intended to apply only to new construction, not to existing facilities.  Applying these burdensome guidelines to existing facilities will only result in further limiting access to health care.  Additional wrongs do not make a right.  I urge the VDH and the Board of Health to deny this petition and to revisit any interpretation of code that makes that a questionable legal action!"