Dear Members of the Virginia Board of Health,

These regulations, put in place to protect public health and safety, are necessary and must be maintained. Abortion businesses in particular have a long history of seriously maiming and killing women in the process of killing children in the womb. The only reason we are even having this conversation is because the current state political leadership wants to protect these abortion businesses that harm women, kill the preborn and outsource the need for real healing to actual health clinics. The politics of this discussion should not allow abortion centers to be exempt from laws meant to protect women. The irony is stark and bitter: In reality, these businesses aggressively target and exploit women, teens and children in pushing abortion and harmful contraceptive services. Their deceptive tactics should be unacceptable in our society, and most certainly should not secure an exemption from reasonable laws that legitimate surgical health centers must obey. The Virginia Board of Health’s clear obligation is to protect Virginia’s women, teens and children, and the current regulations are essential in that regard to ensure that all abortion centers are held accountable.