I am commenting against the proposed regulations on facilities performing five or more first trimester abortions per month. These regulations threaten the continued availability of safe, legal first-trimester abortion and preventive reproductive health care across the Commonwealth of Virginia. These regulations are not about safety, but about stripping access to a legal procedure and eliminating patient access to health care.

The regulations will increase the financial hurdles to health care for patients, with no proven medical benefit to patients. Women need more access to affordable, high quality health care, not less..

The high standard of care provided by women's health centers is proven by their impressive safety record. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures. Overregulation will limit access to a wide range of preventive reproductive health care services provided by women's health clinics, including life-saving cancer screenings, family planning, and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. 

It is my hope that the regulations will be amended to be based purely on medicine and science and should not impede women's access to essential health care.