I'm writing to request that the members of the Virginia Board of Health respect the bodily autonomy of all women within the state by abandoning the burdensome and unnecesasry regulations which soon may be levied against abortion providers. At the least, these regulations must be amended to reflect scientific fact, rather than a legislator's desire to exact their ideological will against Virginia's female population.

These Targeted Regulations of Abortion Provider Laws, also known as TRAP, do nothing to protect the health of Virginia women. On the contrary, these regulations will make it more difficult for a woman to obtain a safe, timely abortion. Abortion is a legally protected right of all American women and has been since the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973. These attempts by state legislatures to chip away at the rights of Virginia women is little more than a thinly veiled attempt to let all of us know our government does not believe we are competent enough to control our own reproductive freedom.

I urge the board members to use their authority to correct the ideological overreach of Virginia lawmakers. Abandon or amend the TRAP laws which will soon go into effect. Thank you for your consideration.