Clearly abortion is a medical procedure with attendant risk and should be regulated accordingly.

• The regulations approved last year were reasonable and should be made permanent.

• The current regulations are reasonable, common sense measures to ensure that life-saving equipment is on hand, infections are prevented, and that clear written policies and building guidelines are in place.  They were proposed by medical experts at the Department of Health and were approved 12-1 by the Board of Health. 

• Replying that these regulations will limit access to abortions or make them more expensive is not a sound objection.  If requiring common-sense measures has such an effect, that's evidence there was a problem with how the centers were run.  Remaining centers will be safer.
• The state purpose of these centers is to help distressed women.  In that case they should be safe.

• I reject the premise that abortion is “health care” because it ends lives instead of healing them, but as long as the abortion industry is allowed to operate within the health care system it must be required to adhere to well-defined health and safety standards.