I am writing about the regulations for abortion providers. I sincerely urge you to reconsider the need for such strict standards. I think they were introduced for the wrong reasons and will not improve safety and health for women in Virginia.  There were already very good safety measures in place for first-trimester abortion and other minimally invasive medical procedures.  Legislation should be introduced to fix a problem, but I’m afraid that the problem is that there are legislators who think they can prevent women from seeking abortion by making it harder and more expensive for providers to offer the procedure.  Along with making it harder to provide abortions the regulations also make it harder for low-income women to get basic health care.

Without access to safe, legal abortions and accurate information about health and family planning, women will do what they have always done:  seek illegal abortions (which cannot be supervised by the state) or try to miscarry by countless frightening and unhealthy methods.

Please take a look at the safety record for legal abortions in Virginia and then ask yourselves if  stricter regulations are really about making things better for Virginia’s women and their families.  It appears that making it harder to provide abortions is all about legislating morality, not safety.

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