I am writing to express my opinion regarding the health regulations for abortion clinics that were put into place when Ken Cuccinelli was the Attorney General of Virginia.
The current regulations or (TRAP-targeted regulations for Abortion Providers) were not part of the recommendations made by the panel of experts that were assembled and initially asked to review the regulations in place in 2011.
The recommendations that were made, and the guidelines that were proposed were for newly constructed clinics with the current clinics exempt from retroactively fitting their facilities with the proposed architectural changes. The initial vote by the BOH grandfathered existing clinics from meeting the new guidelines.
All of the women that I work with and know rejoiced in celebration that current clinics could remain open and continue to provide care to women in our state. These clinics provide pap smears, birth control and other reproductive procedures in addition to abortion care. Many of the patients that are seen at these clinics do not have health care or they exist at a level of poverty that is beyond the realm of belief.
Portions of the regulations that were proposed, recommended, written and approved by the BOH were removed by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office and returned to the BOH with more stringent guidelines and with the grandfather clause removed. Ken Cuccinelli refused to certify the guidelines that were initially passed by the BOH that included grandfathering existing clinics. Members of the BOH were told by Ken Cuccinelli that he would not represent them in a court of law if they voted again to grandfather existing clinics. Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation in conjuction with her husband Matt Cobb (then Deputy Secretary of Health under Governor McDonnell) had a direct influence on the policy recommendations for the clinics. It has always been my opinion that this represented a direct conflict. They should not have been able to influence the process. During AG Cuccinelli's term not only were women's reproductive choices under attack, but so were homosexual persons.
I am 100% for women's safety, and I understand that women's clinics should be monitored and held to high standards of care, just like every other clinic in our state. I ask you to reject the current regulations entirely or modify them to exclude currently practicing clinics. I ask you to take politics out of the equation and do what is right for the women of Virginia. Keep our clinics open and accessible! Shutting down clinics will only harm women not help them!
