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Virginia should prioritize women’s health, not burdening clinics

The State Board of Health should reject McDonnell’s abortion law

This past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas anti-abortion bill that forced abortion clinics and their doctors to meet strict medical standards. Here in Virginia in 2013, then-Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a similar law that held abortion clinics to the same requirements as hospitals and other ambulatory surgical centers. These restrictions do not offer medical benefits sufficient to justify the added burden placed on women seeking a previability abortion. For this reason, we urge the Virginia State Board of Health to reject the restrictions when they vote on the codes.

It is unreasonable to hold abortion clinics to the same requirements as hospitals. The stringent standards are unrelated to the complications that might appear in legal abortion procedure, one of the safest medical operations. The codes issued by McDonnell have no clear medical benefit — they only serve to burden clinics.

Advocates for the restrictions claim the rules ensure safety for all patients, but more often than not, as found in the Supreme Court and other trials on the matter, they are simply mechanisms to force clinics to rebuild or close. In 2011, 21 abortion clinics were in operation in Virginia, and in 2015 the number decreased to 17. Most of the clinics that remained open after McDonnell enacted the restrictions sought and received variances by the Health Department, temporarily shielding them from the severe guidelines.

If there were any lingering doubts about the safety impact of the restrictions, Virginia medical professionals dispelled them. When the restrictions first came into play in 2013, thousands of doctors and other medical personnel spoke out against them, requesting the board to deny the “unnecessary” restrictions. The board should reconsider these opinions and prioritize what matters — women’s health.

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