It is clear that Governor Bob McDonell and his supposedly anti-regulation political colleagues will stop at nothing to degrade women, to demean women, and limit their right to access healthcare (including abortions). This proposed regulation is a dirty, calculated political move that will negatively impact families--yes, FAMILIES--across the state of Virginia.

If a husband and wife decide it is in the best interest of their family as a whole to terminate a pregnancy, they should be able to do so. Governor McDonell apparently thinks that he has a right to have a say in such decisions. He and his political colleagues are inserting themselves to pass regulation which would further complicate very personal decisions which frankly are none of their business. Does this imply that Governor McDonell will gladly pay the medical and long term care bills that result from an ill-advised pregnancy forced to be carried to term? Or, would Governor McDonell propose to increase taxes on all  to pay for the care of children facing a lifetime of sickness?

The fact is, Virginia's current reproductive healthcare centers are models of consistently delivering high quality healthcare services on a shoestring budget  -- just the sort of thing that conservative Republicans say they admire  and seek to emulate. Logically in this situation,  there is no reason for conservative Republican legislators to depart from the anti-regulatory values they hold dear. In this case nothing is broken, and there is nothing in need of fixing, with the exception of our politician's attitudes.

- Christi Smith

South Riding, VA 20152