The Board of Health must rewrite the current regulations of women’s health centers to focus on preserving access to quality care and ensuring they are based in medicine and science.  Please ensure that the highest standards of patient privacy are mandated.

Current regulations of Virginia women’s health centers are about politics, not medicine. Doctors, health care professionals, and a majority of Virginians oppose these regulations. If the regulations are not rewritten to protect medical integrity and to protect patient privacy, tens of thousands of Virginia women and families will lose access to critical medical care. The current burdensome and medically unnecessary regulations will close women’s health centers, restricting access to the comprehensive health care these centers provide, like critical cancer screenings and birth control, including abortion. 

It is silly to pretend that TRAP regulations are about anything other than ending access to abortion. There is no reason that regulations for women's health care centers should be stricter than those for outpatient medical procedures, oral surgery, and plastic surgery. If parking lot size and hallway width are vital for women's healthcare centers, they are vital for all healthcare centers. 

I urge the Commissioner and Board of Health to rewrite these regulations so that they are based on evidence-based medicine.