Board of Health,

In 1972, Doctor Kermet Gosnell was a "respected man" in his community. He was a finalist for "Young Philadelphian of the Year”. Forty-one years later Gosnell was convicted of murder and numerous other unthinkable crimes. The government had inspected none of Pennsylvania’s 22 abortion clinics for more than 15 years. Governor Tom Ridge stopped annual inspections of abortion clinics; inspections were a perceived barrier to women seeking abortion services.Outgoing Governor Ed Rendell said, "I was flabbergasted to learn the Department of Health did not think their authority to protect public health extended to clinics offering abortion services". Previously, Ralph Northam, physician, then state senator and now Lieutenant Governor, addressed the board to persuade against law mandated current regulations. What a conflict with the Hippocratic oath. Today, Governor Terry McAuliffe and the profitable abortion industry want health authorities to look the other way. Where is their concern for women’s health" Have they not learned from the Gosnell debacle" Incidentally, public record shows the abortion industry supported McAuliffe’s gubernatorial campaign with nearly two million dollars.The Hippocratic oath includes the promise "to abstain from doing harm". This Board and every person in this room need be guided by that oath.Horrors from back alley procedures were reported pre Roe v. Wade. The symbol of these barbaric procedures was the coat hanger. Today, I ask this board to stay the course; keep the coat hanger out of Virginia abortion clinics. William Heipp