It seems to me the idea that implementing and maintaining basic health and safety standards will limit access to the services of the covered establishments is akin to saying that health and safety standards covering food service establishments limit access to places to eat.  I suppose it could be said 'of course they do', but just as in the case of food safety standards, aren't the establishments that are not keeping up to the standards precisely the purveyors a sensible person wants to avoid?  In the case of food service it is much easier to make the decision to avoid those establishments who carry on questionable practices because there is generally less emotional urgency to getting a bite to eat than to terminating a pregnancy.

By that I mean an unplanned pregnancy brings with it a variety of stresses and pressures, from all quarters, which play upon the emotions of those involved.  Certainly the last issue one needs to deal with is trying to determine whether a facility is safe and healthy for the woman involved.  The Health Department reports already highlight numerous troubling incidents and now we are beginning to get a look at the goings on of Dr. Brigham's clinics too.  Having worked in management within the food service industry I have not only dealt with the rules and regulations designed to protect the public there but have also seen the effects a bad safety review has on an establishment - as it rightly should.  I understood, as did my fellow auditors and managers in our company, that the health and saftey regulations and inspections were serious, necessary and for the public good.  Did we love every reg. or like when we were dinged for a violation?  Certainly not, but we responded to the situation as one would expect professionals concerned with the quality and safety of their product as well as the industry we were in.

It would seem to me that any reputable provider would wholeheartedly support these standards as a means of keeping shady practitioners out of their industry and as a constant reminder that they themselves need to remain vigilant and committed to the quality of care of their patients.  In an industry such as this there is little room for mistakes or poor practices without incurring severe risks and potentially irreparable damages.  As terrible as the consequences can be for poor health and safety in food service the abortion indsutry raises those stakes even higher and the public good calls for the continuation and update of these standards.