Targeted Regulations on Abortion Providers
The Board of Health must completely repeal and rewrite the current regulations of women's health centers to protect women's
Restrictions motivated by political and religious beliefs aren't necessary and endanger women's health.
· Doctors and medical groups oppose these regulations because they aren't necessary for patients' safety.
· Abortion is an extremely safe and common procedure. Colonoscopies, have a much higher rate of complication, and are commonly performed in similar outpatient clinics. These restrictions single out abortion providers for political and religious reasons.
Current regulations of Virginia women's health centers are about politics, not medicine.
· Three years ago six top medical experts from across the state recommended evidence-based regulations that protected women's health, but the Dept. of Health ignored their own doctors' recommendations and drafted regulations based in politics, not medicine.
· During the process of final decision-making by the Virginia Board of Health in 2012, then Attorney General Cuccinelli pressured the Board behind the scenes, bullying them into approving restrictions specifically designed to shut down health centers by refusing to defend members if sued over this issue.
· In October 2012, Dr. Karen Remley, the Virginia Health Commissioner, resigned her position due to the intrusion of politics into women's health care.
Doctors, health care professionals, and a majority of Virginians oppose these regulations.
· A 2013 statewide survey showed a majority of Virginians (58%) oppose the medically unnecessary and burdensome regulations of women's health care centers that provide critical and comprehensive health care, including abortion.
· In September 2012, a diverse group of 177 doctors and medical experts from across the state organized and independently funded a public letter and Richmond Times-Dispatch advertisement, writing that "We must not travel down a dangerous slippery slope where we allow political forces to dictate medical care."
If the regulations are not repealed and rewritten, tens of thousands of Virginia women and families will lose access to critical medical care.
· Five women's health centers in Virginia have already been forced to close due to these burdensome and medically-unnecessary regulations. If the regulations remain unchanged additional health centers will close, cutting off women's access to preventative and critical health care – cancer screenings, Gyn and general medical exams – particularly women in low-income areas, who rely heavily on these services and facilities for their health care.