These regulations threaten the continued availability of safe, legal first-trimester abortion and preventive reproductive health care in multiple locations throughout the state by placing, costly, extensive and burdensome requirements for clinic buildings that are unrelated to the services the health centers provide and with no proven medical benefit to patients.

 

The increased costs for clinics to be able to update facilities to meet the state's burdensome regulations will have to be passed on to patients, increasing the financial hurdles of patients needing to access health care for patients. The result of this will be the  further marginalization of  young, low-income, uninsured and minority women by decreasing their access to affordable health care options.

 

The high standard of care provided by women's health centers is proven by their impressive safety record. Overregulation of clinics based solely on  the fact that they provide abortion, will limit access to a wide range of preventive reproductive health care services provided by women's health clinics, including life-saving cancer screenings, family planning services (a key compontent in preventing unintended and unwanted pregnancies), and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment.

 

It is my hope that the regulations will be amended to be based purely on medicine and science and should not impede women's access to essential health care