Board of Health,

I attended the 4 Dec meeting and noted a distinct avoidance by the medical staff personnel who defended the safety of the abortion procedure but, not a single presenter stated they would refer a patient to one of the non compliant facilities cited in the meeting. This tells me that the current guidelines may be too lenient as written and the non compliant facilities have abused their time waivers and should be closed.

Dear Members of the Board of Health,

The decision to issue a NOIRA on the abortion center regulations at your December 4, 2014 meeting is premature and unnecessary. The strongest possible abortion center regulations are essential for the health and safety of Virginia women and must be maintained. Health department inspectors have uncovered hundreds of health and safety violations. These violations include improper hand washing procedures and blood splatter on instruments and examination tables and abortions on minors without documented informed consent. Recent inspections also revealed significant abuse as an abortion center recorded an incredibly high number of complications from attempted chemical abortions with RU-486. The abortion industry has fought regulation for years, yet repeatedly independent inspectors find serious deficiencies, even during announced inspections. Abortion centers are not able to self-regulate. Abortion is not healthcare because it ends lives instead of healing them. However, since abortion operates within the healthcare system, abortion centers must adhere to the regulatory standards of other healthcare facilities. Simply, Virginia women deserve nothing less. Thank you for considering my perspective on this important matter.

Recommendations or referrals of patients to the non-compliant by those compliant facilities that touted the safety of the procedure is evidence enough that the non-compliant facilities should be closed and the current guidelines strengthened to protect the safety of our women in Virginia. Bernard T. Rote