The regulations aimed at abortion clinics in Virginia do NOT promote public health--they endanger it by preventing women from receiving the health care they need and deserve.  These regulations are clearly a political tactic employed by those who wish to make legal abortion inacessible.  In September of 2012, 177 doctors and medical experts wrote a letter to the Richmond Times dispatch declaring that these laws are politcally, not medically, motivated.  In October of the same year, Dr. Karen Remley, the Virginia Health Commissioner, resigned her position because of the intrusion of politics into healthcare. 

By forcing health centers to close, these laws restrict access to vital healthcare, including cancer screenings and annual care, for thousands of Virginia women, particularly those in low-income areas.  If this review period is about establishing whether or not TRAP laws are necessary for public health, the choice is clear:  they are not, and they must not be allowed to stand.