I am writing to urge the Virginia Board of Health not to enforce discriminatory regulations on abortion providers that result in the shuttering of clinics. Abortion is an incredibly safe procedure that millions of women rely on to fulfill safe, healthy, and rewarding lives. Medical professionals have been very clear on how to make abortions even safer: increase availability in the first trimester, offer expedited services when an emergency arises in later trimesters, and avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place by expanding access to birth control. 

Regulations that require certain elevator sizes, door awnings, and parking lots spaces DO NOT fulfill any of these safety initiatives. Instead, regulations such as these expressly make women less safe by shutting down clinics that offer birth control and abortion, and stigmatizing the procedure and the doctors who perform it. 

Virginia desperately needs more comprehensive reproductive health centers, not less. I urge the Board to do everything in its power to enable Virginians to open more clinics and block regulations that could close more down.