Board of Health,

Du Pont is noted for its dedication to safety for its workers and the community. I was a member of the Safety Office at a Du Pont site for a couple of years, and I was involved in Safety and Health (S&H) Committees and efforts in Du Pont and two other Fortune 100 companies for most of the period from 1979 to 2010. The S&H infractions found in abortion clinics in Virginia present severe hazards to safety and health, not only for women having abortions, but also for the medical personnel and staff working there--and perhaps to sanitation workers picking up abortion by-products disposed of by these clinics. To let these S&H infractions continue in these clinics is unconscionable. At Du Pont and other places I worked, S&H expense was simply a business expense, but one that allowed us to sleep at night, and one we gladly paid. We knew that S&H expenditures were returned to us many times over in savings for workmans compensation, improved morale, and higher productivity--not to mention greater trust in leadership by those who worked at our sites and by members of the community. For these and several other reasons, I urge the Board not to eliminate nor reduce inspections at Virginias abortion clinics. Sincerely, J. D. Hopkins