As healthcare professionals, we the undersigned want to lend our support to the Virginia Board of Health, and we thank the Board for all its efforts in promoting the health of Virginia’s citizens. As an independent agency, the Board has always acted with integrity and impartiality. Recently, however, political forces have challenged the independence of the Board. We appeal to the Board to resist these outside influences and urge the Board to make its decision on the basis of impartial, professional and scientific information as it relates to the women’s health clinic regulations. The reputation and credibility of the Board is at stake.

THE FACTS:

·       Proposed Regulation 370, which addresses onerous and medically unnecessary architectural requirements, is clearly counter to the recommendations not only of the State-appointed group of respected university physicians but also the nationally-recognized Facility Guidelines Institute. These experts recommended that existing clinics be exempt from the new building regulations. This exemption is entirely consistent with previous Board of Health rulings covering other health care facilities. The Board made clear in 2006 that such rules would apply only to new construction. On June 15, 2012, the Board, following precedent, voted 7-4 to amend Regulation 370 based on the expert advice of the medical professionals.

·       Although the purported intent of these regulations is to protect women’s health, the safety record of these clinics in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been exemplary.

·       The Board of Health, not the Attorney General, has the statutory authority, as stated in the Virginia Code Ann: 32.1-127(A), to regulate health care facilities as long as they are “in substantial conformity to the standards of health, hygiene, sanitation, construction and safety as established by medical and health professionals and by specialists in matters of public health and safety.”

We all understand that abortion has supporters and detractors and we respect those views. The issue here is not and should not be about abortion. It is about the Virginia Board of Health as an independent, objective, public health advisory group that acts with impartiality in weighing scientific evidence.

We must not travel down a dangerous slippery slope where we allow political forces to dictate medical care.

Respectfully,

1. Virginia Section, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
2. Alfred Abuhamad, MD, FACOG
3. Peggy Barringer, MD
4. Sarah J. Baskett, MD
5. Matthew Bassignani, MD
6. Linda Baxter, NP
7. Stephen H. Bendheim, MD, FACOG
8. Mimi Bennett, WHNP
9. Siobhan Bertolino, MD
10. Nadia Blanchet, MD
11. David Block, M.D
12. Jo Bohannon-Grant, MD
13. Jeffrey Bonacci, MD
14. Melissa K. Bradner, MD
15. George R Brengel MD FACP
16. Susan J Buniva, MSW, LCSW
17. Carolyn Burns, MD
18. Samuel D. Caughron, MD
19. Paul Chidester, MD
20. Christopher Chisholm, MD, FACOG
21. Kelman Cohen, MD
22. Charles Cooke, MD
23. Marjorie Cooke, RN, FNP
24. Jeffrey Cooper, MD
25. Sarah T Corley, MD, FACP
26. Merissa Costello, ANP
27. Monique Crabb, MD
28. Genie Crawford, LPC
29. Sallie C. Darnell, MPH, FNP
30. Susan Davenport, WHNP-BC
31. Jessica M. DeMay, MD
32. Gerald Donowitz, MD
33. Alan Dow, MD, MSHA
34. Beth Du, MD
35. Leo J. Dunn, MD, MSHA
36. Linda A Earhart, ANP-BC
37. Michael Edelstein, MD
38. Janet Eddy, MD
39. Ken Ellenbogen, MD
40. Lisa Ellis, MD
41. Zachary Ellis, MD
42. Eric M. English, MD
43. Charles G. Evans Jr, MD, FACC
44. Ruth Felson, MD
45. James E. Ferguson II, MD
46. Jennifer M. Ferguson, MD
47. Martha T. Fernandez, MD
48. Marcella Fierro, MD
49. William G. Fitzhugh, MD, MPH
50. Janett Forte, MSW, LCSW
51. Helen Montague Foster, MD
52. Jan Paul Fruiterman, MD
53. Kim Galgano, MD
54. David Gardner, MD
55. Candice Geary, MD, FACOG
56. Harry L. Gewanter, MD, FAAP, FACR
57. Joseph Gianfortoni, MD, FACOG
58. Stanley Goldman, MD
59. Robert A. Goldschmidt, MD
60. Charles Gould, MD
61. Douglas Gregory, MD, FAAP
62. Cathy Grossman, MD
63. Amelia Grover, MD
64. Lisbet Hanson, MD, FACOG
65. Hillary Hawkins, MD
66. Larry K. Heath, MD
67. Courtney Henderson, WHNP
68. Stuart Henochowicz, MD
69. Angela Herring, MD
70. Robin Hills, MS, WHNP-BC, CNE
71. Alice Hirata, MD
72. Kevin Hoover, MD, PhD
73. Malcolm Howell, MD
74. Joanne C Hudson, MD
75. Samantha Hudson, MD
76. Sara L. Imershein, MD, FACOG
77. Eric S. Jacobson, MD, PhD
78. Karen Jefferson, MD
79. Nicole W. Karjane, MD
80. Adele I. Karp, LCSW
81. James Kenley, MD
82. Kris Kennedy, MD, FACOG
83. Michael Kiken, MD, FACOG
84. Patricia Anne Kinser, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC
85. Andrew Klein, MD
86. Wendy Klein, MD, FACP
87. Susan Kornstein, MD
88. Ike Koziol, MD
89. Judith Koziol, LPC
90. Margee Krebs, WHNP, ANP
91. K.L. Ashok Kumar, MD
92. Jeffrey Kushinka, MD
93. Evelyn K Lampert, MS, LCSW
94. Frank LaRosa, MD
95. Walter Lawrence, MD
96. Cheryl LeCroy, MSN, RN
97. Gregory Leghart, MD
98. Willette LeHew, MD, FACOG
99. Stephen Leibovic, MD, MS
100. James L. Levenson, MD
101. Augustine W. Lewis, III, MD
102. Christopher Lillis, MD
103. Anand Lothe, MD
104. Sheldon M. Markowitz, MD, MS
105. James Messmer, MD, FACR
106.  Maria Meussling, MD
107. Susan Miller, MD
108. Paul Monroe, MD
109. Sara Monroe, MD
110. William B. Moskowitz, MD, FAAP, FACC
111. Dawn Mueller, MD
112. Jeffrey Neal, DDS
113. Kinloch Nelson, MD
114. Hollis Newman, LPC
115. Sylvia Newman, LCSW
116. Daniel Noffsinger, MD
117. Sharon Nuzik, PT, MS
118. Timothy O’Connell, MD
119. Karen Olshansky, LCSW
120. Ken Olshansky, MD
121. Asli Orhon, MD
122. Christopher Paoloni, MD
123. Willie J. Parker, MD, MPH, MSc
124. Tami Peckham, LCSW
125. Claiborne T. Perdue, III, RN
126. Elizabeth A. Perdue, MD
127. Christian M. Perez, MD, FACOG
128. Michael Perlman, MD
129. Donna I. Pinnell, WHNP
130. M. Craig Pinsker, MD, PhD
131. Polly Purgason, MD
132. Holly Puritz, MD, FACOG
133. Nathan Rabhan, MD
134. Robert Rashti, MD
135. Anne Jordan Rawley, RN
136. George Rector, MD, FACOG
137. Michael F. Rein, MD, MACP
138. Elizabeth Roberts, MD
139. Jo Lynne Robins, RN, PhD, ANP-BC
140. Sanford Rosenberg, MD
141. Katherine A Ryan, PhD, LCSW
142. Mark Ryan, MD, FAAFP
143. David Salley, MD
144. Kelsey Salley, MD
145. Nancy Sanders, MD
146. Ronna Saunders, LCSW
147. Edmund D. Schoeffler, MD
148. Patricia Selig, PhD, FNP-BC
149. Bruce R Selman, MD, PhD
150. Alan Shulman, MD
151. Katherine L. Smallwood, MD
152. Michael Spatz, MD
153. Ken Steingold, MD
154. Polly Stephens, MD
155. Don Switz, MD
156. Reena Talreja-Pelaez, MD, FACOG
157. Corinne Tuckey-Larus, MD
158. Mary Ann Turner, MD
159. Rachel R. Waller, MD
160. Jennifer George Ward, MD, FACOG
161. Robert Weisberger, MD
162. Josh Weiss, MD
163. Jeffrey Wentworth, MD, FACOG
164. Richard Wenzel, MD, MSc
165. Theresa Whibley, MD
166. Charleen Whitehead, MS
167. Nancy Whitehurst, LCSW
168. Sandra S. Wilbur, MSW, LCSW
169. Charles Wilkes, MD, FACOG
170. Marvin T. Williams, MD
171. Tracey Wingold, LCSW
172. Stephen Wohlgemuth, MD, FACS
173. Patrick Woodward, MD
174. Tracy B. Wright, MD
175. David Wu-Pong, MD
176. Melissa Zemmel, CRNA
177. Alvin Zfass, MD