In a developed country where the practice of medicine is usually held to a high standard of state regulation, patients generally enjoy the expectation that, when they undergo surgical procedures in for-profit centers, they won't encounter unqualified and untrained personnel, unsanitary conditions, inadequate facilities, slipshod assembly-line-style procedures, and faulty record-keeping.  Healthcare providers are also generally required to report cases of child sexual abuse, human trafficking, etc.  These expectations, however, frequently haven't been met when the surgical procedure is abortion.  The industry's political clout and contributions to office holders have allowed it to carve out massive exemptions from the common-sense regulations that prevail in every other area of medicine.  (Proponents of abortion legalization argue that only legalization will allow regulation to prevent "back-alley butchers" from injuring women; but in practice, a regime of legalization with no regulation simply permits the back-alley butchers to operate legally and advertise in the Yellow Pages.)  Finally, following horrific inspection results of Virginia's abortion centers last year, the state acted to put in place responsible regulations to prevent women's lives and health.  Now, a politically-inspired attempt is underway to roll back these regulations, and to make Virginia a national Mecca for quacks like Steven Brigham, whose license to practice medicine has been revoked in five states (but who stil owns two Virginia abortion centers).

The question before you as a medical regulatory board is not whether or not abortion should be legal.  Rather, the question is whether a woman who walks into a state-licensed facility to have one should enjoy the same health, safety and informed consent protections she would if she were, for instance, seeking breast cancer surgery, so that she can trust that she won't be killed (as Tonya Reaves and others have been) or maimed by abortionists who can't be bothered with quality patient care if it hurts profits.  The answer to that question ought to be a no brainer.