The Virginia Board of Health is conducting another public hearing on abortion clinics regulations — health and safety laws that could close abortion clinics that are unable to comply.
The hearing is set for Tuesday in Alexandria after a previous hearing was held in Richmond last week.
This is the second round of public comment on the regulations, which have upset pro-abortion groups unwilling to acknowledge that abortion clinics routinely put women’s health at risk by not following the same standards as legitimate medical clinics. They claim those new abortion clinic standards could close abortion facilities statewide.
According to AP, “The board conducted two public hearings on the regulations last year. After the second hearing, the board reversed an earlier decision and voted 13-2 to tentatively approve regulations that do not exempt existing clinics from the building standards. A final vote is expected later this year.”
Americans United for Life Staff Counsel Anna Franzonello will testify today at the hearing, and will tell officials about the need for comprehensive regulations that “hold the abortion industry to the same medical standards as other surgical facilities for the protection of vulnerable women and girls. The horrific headlines of young women, dead, after surgical abortions are tragic evidence of the need for better supervision of an under-regulated, profit driven industry.”
“Since Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly acknowledged that a state has ‘a legitimate interest in seeing to it that abortion, like any other medical procedure, is performed under circumstances that ensure maximum safety for the patient,’” Franzonello will note in her testimony.
Following the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, AUL’s premier legal team has aggressively pursued a strategy of rolling back and reversing Roe through model legislation. Abortion clinic regulations are part of a special package of targeted legislation crafted to confront the abortion industry substandard practices and disregard for women’s health. In 2013, this targeted approach includes:
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The Women’s Health Defense Act (which limits abortions at or after 20-weeks gestation based on concern for women’s health)
The Abortion Patients’ Enhanced Safety Act (which requires abortion clinics to meet the same standards as other facilities performing outpatient surgeries)
The Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act
The Women’s Ultrasound Right to Know Act
The Parental Involvement Enhancement Act
The Abortion-Mandate Opt-Out Act
The Healthcare Freedom of Conscience Act
The Virginia Board of Health is holding a public hearing on the state’s proposed abortion clinic regulations in Alexandria, Virginia, at 1 p.m. in the John Marshall Public Library.
