On behalf of Virginia's Catholic bishops and their two dioceses (serving more than 700,000 parishioners), I write to express strong support for the proposed regulations on abortion centers that were decisively approved by the Board of Health in September of 2012, that were subsequently certified by the Attorney General and approved by the Governor, and that now await final approval.  These proposed regulations are in the best interest of women's health and maintain complete consistency with the provisions of the pertinent legislation enacted by the General Assembly in 2011.

Abortion is not health care because it does not heal lives; it ends them.  But since the abortion industry is allowed to function within the health care system, it certainly at least ought to be subject to reasonable, commonsense safety standards to ensure that life-saving equipment is on hand, infections are prevented, and clear written policies and building guidelines are in place.

Under the already-implemented temporary emergency regulations, health inspectors have found numerous health and safety violations in Virginia's abortion centers.  These findings show that the abortion industry cannot be relied upon to self-regulate, and they accentuate the need for the proposed permanent regulations. 

Thank you for considering the Virginia Catholic Conference's perspective in this matter.