I live in Fairfax and I am concerned about the new rules being implemented by the state.  The proposed regulations are overly burdensome and unnecessary.  They have no proven medical benefit and will only serve to reduce or eliminate patient access to health care. The idea is to safe guard rights and provide safe facilities for women, but if you close down facilities that are perfectly safe if a little small, how does that help provide facilities? It reduces the number making it harder for women to receive the care they need.

Women in Virginia need more access to affordable, high quality health care, not less.  The regulations will increase the financial burden on patients and decrease patients' health care options thereby marginalizing young, low-income, and uninsured women.

Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures. Instead of improving safety, these regulations 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, and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment.  The regulations should be based solely on medicine and science and should not impede women's access to essential health care.

Please consider revising or removing the new regulations. Thank you.