I expect the Virginia Board of Health to ignore politics and make evidence-based decisions regarding the healthcare of the citizens of the Commonwealth. Such decisions should respect the rights of the individual patient and the costs of such decisions. 

The medical restrictions currently in place for women's health facilities that perform legal abortions have no support in medical evidence and the relavent specialty groups oppose them. Unnecessary invasive ultrasounds add an unjustifiable financial burden and the legislation of an invasive medical procedure sets a seriously unwise precedient. Since prostate cancer is a very common disease among men, shall we mandate that every male in the Commonwealth under a rectal exam before we allow any medical treatment? Would that not discourage men from seeking medical care? In addition, the unnecessary requirements for abortion providers to only practice in hospital-level medical facilities is as unreasonable as requiring dentists and oral surgeons who sedate patients to only perform their work in a setting comparable to a hospital operating suite.

It is clear that the restrictions on women's health services are intended to discourage women from seeking or obtaining legal abortions. This not the mission of the Virginia Board of Health.

Sincerely,

Leonard Yang, M.D., Winchester, VA