Thank you for the Board of Health's decision to amend the medically unnecessary abortion clinic regulations. As they stand, the regulations have been used to force the closures of clinics that provide safe medical care to women who need it. Please use this process to ensure more health centers are not forced to close.

Forcing abortion clinics to close is immoral and places women in danger. While proponents of the onerous clinic regulations claim they care about women's health and safety, their true colors were on display at the most recent Board of Health meeting where men spoke and claimed they supported the regulation because they believe it's a man's job to make sure women do the right thing. Another man held a sign that said "abortion hurts women." Whether the speakers in favor of these regulations are man or woman, their real goal is to make abortion impossible to access in the Commonwealth by regulating the clinics out of existence. 

Contrary to claims and rhetoric, abortion is overwhelmingly safe. A recent study by the University of California at San Francisco looked at the entire health records of more than 50,000 women who had abortions in that state, and the rate of major complication was one quarter of one percent. 

Ensuring that health centers that offer the full range of reproductive care remain open is a necessary condition of equality and justice for women, whether women need or choose to have abortions themselves. As a Virginian and the mother of a baby girl, I request that you fix these restrictions so that the clinics can remain open.