The grisly business of killing children needs to stop.  It is harmful to women and is NOT healthcare.  

If the Board is truly pro-woman, they would not water down these common sense regulations and make it harder for this industry to continue to exist. Thank-you for shutting down Stephen Brigham’s butcher shop in Fairfax.  Now  lets’s close the rest of these abusive shops.  

Here are a few changes I recommend the Board consider:

1. Reinstate all of the health and safety measures the Board watered down during its last amendment process. 
2. Require all Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) inspections to verify that ultrasounds have been performed at least 24 hours prior to every abortion performed. 
3. Require annual inspections on abortion facilities instead of biennial. 
4. Remove the ability of the Commissioner to grant permanent variances.
5. Reinstate the definition of "first trimester" as being the first twelve weeks from conception, not "13 weeks and 6 days after last menstrual period." 
6. Reinstate the ability of the department to deny, suspend, or revoke the license to operate an abortion facility for violating "any provision of Article 1 (§ 32.1-123 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1."
7. Reinstate the requirement that the abortion facility ensures that it has removed all of the fetal body parts from inside of the female patient upon the performance of an abortion. 
8. Reinstate the requirement that abortion facilities report to OLC any incidents reported to the malpractice insurance carrier.
9. Reinstate the reasonable design and construction standards that provided for things such as hallways wide enough to carry patients out on stretchers in cases of emergency.

 Thank you for your consideration.  Please ensure the health and safety of all women. Praying you will do the right thing and stand up for women and not for an industry that profits from taking advantage of women in despair.