Students from colleges across Virginia gathered at Richmond City Council chambers Wednesday to lobby for and against abortion and emergency contraception regulations. That day, the House of Delegates passed a bill that could result in the closure of all but one abortion clinic in Virginia.
The Targeted Regulation for Abortion Providers bill would require stricter standards at abortion clinics. Standards include a requirement that clinic hallways be wide enough to allow for the passage of two gurneys rather than one.
According to third-year College student Ali Ahmad, vice chair of the College Republicans, the bill addresses important safety issues at abortion clinics.
"The bill was passed because even if you come from the standpoint that a woman has an unimpeachable right to get an abortion, the least we can do is make sure that these abortion clinics are safe," Ahmad said.
Del. Mitch Van Yahres, D-Charlottesville, said he voted against the bill because it was an obvious attempt to stop abortion in Virginia.
"If they were to meet those standards it would be extremely expensive," Van Yahres said. "It is not a healthcare issue for them -- it is a way to close abortion clinics."
If the bill passes in the Senate, all but one abortion clinic in Roanoke would remain open in Virginia, said Ben Greenberg, director of government relations with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.
"While abortions would continue to be legal, they would no longer be available," Greenberg said. "These are regulations that are unrelated to health and safety issues. They are architectural requirements that are inappropriate for physicians' offices."
According to fourth-year College student Lindsay Prevette, who spoke at the press conference before the General Assembly on behalf of Voices for Planned Parenthood U.Va., Charlottesville will be opening a new abortion clinic that meets the standards of the bill.
"They will be opening one on Hydraulic Road that they built just because of this bill, because they knew it would have a high chance to pass," Prevette said.
Prevette said she spoke on a variety of issues at the press conference, including the availability of emergency contraception pills at health facilities at publicly funded schools in Virginia.
"People who are against emergency contraception believe that pregnancy begins at fertilization ----- it won't harm an implanted egg at all," Prevette said.
Ahmad said restricting access to emergency contraception at university health facilities does not limit a woman's access to the prescription drug.
"This doesn't stop the physicians from writing a prescription and letting them take it to private pharmacies," Ahmad said. "I think for most Republicans this is an issue totally separate from abortion. The taxpayers' money is paying for young women to behave irresponsibly."
According to Greenberg, in the future, the General Assembly will vote on bills 1414 and 1404 that prohibit health facilities at state universities from offering emergency contraception and limit access to minors, respectively.
"I think it is a very dangerous bill -- we are talking about basic birth control," Greenberg said. "If we truly want to reduce the number of abortions in this country we should be trying to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, and that is exactly what emergency contraception does."
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