Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Virginia Department of Health
 
Board
State Board of Health
 
chapter
Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities [12 VAC 5 ‑ 412]
Action Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities
Stage Emergency/NOIRA
Comment Period Ended on 2/15/2012
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2/14/12  9:24 pm
Commenter: Katherine O'Connell

Board of Health Regulations of Abortion Providers
 

These regulations on abortion providers are extremely harmful to women in the state of Virginia. Abortion, last time I checked, is a constitutionally protected right, and to put such unnecessary, burdensome restrictions on access to abortion and abortion providers is offensive and disregards the content of the Constitution. Young, low-income women are going to be marginalized by these ridiculous, unnecessary regulations and lack access to necessary health procedures. Abortion is a common procedure, 1 in 3 American women will have one by the time she is 45, and they should be treated as such. No other medical procedure is being subjected to such inane and superfluous regulations, but many are more dangerous than abortion (which has a .3% complication rate). So stop pretending these are to protect women or help women. They're not. This is an attempt to control what I, as a woman, do with my body because apparently that's not my choice anymore. Women should be trusted with their reproductive health and futures. 

Furthermore, it's not going to ban abortion or make it rare. What you're doing is making it harder for people to obtain SAFE and LEGAL abortions, so instead women will be forced to have dangerous back-alley ones that can lead to severe medical problems and death. If you cared about women AT ALL, you would stop these regulations, because, and this is historical fact, when you make abortion illegal or difficult to come by women die.

CommentID: 22657