Abortion center regulations are essential for the health and safety of Virginia women and must be maintained, not weakened.  Please preserve vital health and safety regulations governing abortion centers in Virginia for the benefit of Virginia women. 
 
The suspension of operations at a Fairfax abortion facility due to 26 health and safety violations proves that the regulations are working and must be preserved as is, not watered down. 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. Abortion is evil, and my hope is that someday it will be illegal as it was in the past in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  However, since abortion operates under the guise of healthcare, abortion centers must adhere to the regulatory standards of other healthcare facilities.  Virginia women who have often been pressured and coerced into obtaining an abortion deserve to be safe.
 
Strong regulations are essential, a point proven yet again last week when The Washington Post reported the state Health Department suspended the license of a Fairfax abortion clinic after inspectors found egregious health and safety violations, documented in a stomach-turning 52-page inspection report.  During a two-day inspection, state health officials documented expired medication, sanitary procedure violations and the case of a bleeding patient rushed to the emergency room because the abortion clinic had no available sutures. 
 
Further, the Fairfax clinic, American Women’s Services, is one of several owned by Dr. Steven Brigham, an infamous abortionist who was once charged with murder and who has had his medical license revoked or suspended in several states.  Even the National Abortion Federation has said Brigham’s “pattern of repeated and serious misconduct that poses a significant threat to patient safety…cannot be allowed to go unchecked in Virginia.”
 
This abortion clinic closure by state health officials illustrates that the three-year-old regulations are working. These critical health and safety regulations must be maintained, not weakened.  The abortion industry that aids and abets the likes of Steven Brigham cannot be trusted to protect women’s safety without these strong regulations.  Please maintain the existing protective regulations. 

Thank you

Jeff Sanborn, Crozet, Virginia