I am writing in support of the new safety regulations for Virginia's abortion clinics.  It's an easy decision to make.  For me, it comes down to asking one simple question: "Why wouldn't we want to do everything we can, within reason, to protect the health and the lives of the women who go there?"  It is hard to understand why anyone would argue otherwise.  Why would anyone argue that it is okay to compromise safety in a medical environment?  Why would anyone argue that it is okay to put women at risk?  Don't basic compassion and medical ethics demand that we "do no harm"?  Then, why would we even think of allowing a medical facility to operate on a "dumbed-down" level of mediocrity, where normal, basic and necessary safety standards are ignored?  The fact that some are against these measures causes me to wonder... why?  They are concerned about the rights of women, and that's great.  Women should and do have rights.  But, why would they want to limit the rights of women when it comes to the safety of their medical care?  We are a civilized society.  Women deserve our protection.  How could we turn a blind eye when we know we can do a better job of protecting them?  Tomorrow, if one of our daughters, sisters, or loved ones was having a procedure at one of these clinics, would we feel okay about having lax standards there?  Would we be okay with the lack of sufficient oversight and commonsense safety requirements?  The answer is obvious: of course not.  So, the question is not, "Why should we have sound safety regulations?".  The question is, "Why wouldn't we?" 

Thank you for this opportunity to express my viewpoint.   - SS