At midnight tonight, the Virginia Board of Health ends the public commentary period for amending regulations for abortion clinics.
At midnight tonight, the Virginia Board of Health ends the public commentary period for amending regulations for abortion clinics.
Targeted Regulations for Abortion Providers (TRAP) were passed in Virginia in 2011 and formally adopted in 2013. These laws state that any facility providing at least five first-trimester abortions to women per month must be kept to the same standards as a full-service hospital.
Following the implementation of these restrictions, two women’s health facilities which provide abortions were shut down, and one stopped providing abortion services altogether.
In a press release, the Family Foundation said these regulations are necessary for the health and safety of Virginia women.
“The abortion industry claims to be able to self-regulate; however, inspections of Virginia’s abortion centers have revealed over 400 violations in just over two years,” said Victoria Cobb, President of the Family Foundation.
Cianti Stewart-Reid, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia and Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC, said the organization finds many of these requirements are not in the best interest of women’s health.
“They include medically unnecessary architectural requirements that do little to increase patient safety,” Stewart-Reid said.
In May 2014, Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an executive directive, which required a review of the current restrictions for abortion clinics. Dr. Marissa Levine, the Health Commissioner appointed by McAuliffe, also announced her recommendation to overhaul abortion clinic regulations in October 2014.
Stewart-Reid said the process of amending such regulations takes 18 to 24 months.
The state board of health issued a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) in December 2014 as the first step towards amendments. After this notice is a period of public commentary on their website, which the board takes into consideration for amending the current regulations.
The Family Foundation asked supporters of the current regulations to voice their opinion on the public comment forum.
“While we disagree with the choice these women are making to terminate their pregnancy and take an innocent human life, we still believe that it is imperative that these centers are regulated and maintain at least a basic standard of sanitation and medical safety standards,” Cobb said.
Stewart-Reid says many of these TRAP laws were made hastily, without regard to the best medical and scientific evidence.
“They made emergency regulations that included all of these building requirements like awnings over doorways and numbers of parking spots and the width of hallways, that don’t speak to patient safety,” Stewart-Reid said.
There are currently over 2,000 comments on the Virginia town hall website, with opinions all across the spectrum.
Benjamin Wade is concerned that clinics are dangerous to women without regulation.
“While abortion already kills one person, without regulation it can fairly easily kill two. Please regulate abortion clinics for the safety of the women of Virginia.”
Others who support an amendment to these regulations say these regulations have nothing to do with the safety of women, but are motivated by political views.
Camille Rudney, a social worker, supports the amendment to these regulations because she thinks they are not motivated by women’s health.
“The strong-arming used by anti-choice politicians in the process of passing and enacting the TRAP laws in Virginia over the protests of actual medical providers made it clear that these are politically motivated and not medically motivated regulations,” Rudney said. “Abortion clinics are not hospitals.”
Stewart-Reid said Planned Parenthood is not against all regulation for abortion centers. She said they just want what’s in the best interest of their patients.
“We don’t oppose regulation if they reflect the best medical practice and are actually aimed at improving patient safety.”
Virginians can post their comments here by 11:59 p.m. You can add your comment here.
