On January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court afirmed the right of a woman to have an abortion (Roe v. Wade) and carefully balanced that right against the obvious needs to protect prenatal life as well as the health of the mother.

We are all painfully aware that abortion has strong religious, ideological and political overtones, but religion, ideology and politicals have no place in determining how a government, be it local, state or federal, should regulate its citizens.

In the context and spirit of the right afirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Roe v. Wade decision, clinics and facilities that perform abortions in the Commonwealth of Virginia should be treated no differently than clinics, hospitals and medical facilities that provide anty other form of medical care.