I do not support the amendment of hospital regulations because all kinds of existing facilities should be allowed medically appropriate “grandfathering,” but I also absolutely do not support a selective application of the law that governs the physical plant requirements imposed on health care facilities in Virginia.
Under the law, women’s health care centers cannot be treated differently from other health care facilities. The final regulations for women’s health care centers now force current providers of first trimester abortion to meet stricter physical plant standards than any other health care facility in the state — more strict than hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and outpatient facilities. There is no legitimate reason to impose a different interpretation of the law, mandating extremely onerous new construction standards on health care facilities that have been shown to safely provide first trimester abortion services to Virginia women for 40 years, especially when no other existing entity is required to meet those standards.