On behalf of Catholics for Choice, an organization that holds to the Catholic belief that each woman has the right to follow her own conscience on reproductive health matters, I respectfully submit the following comments regarding the Virginia State Board of Health’s Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities [12 VAC 5-412].

As a Catholic, a resident of Virginia for more than a decade and a woman who regularly seeks health services in the Commonwealth, I write to express my strong support and appreciation for the Virginia Board of Health’s decision to reconsider the medically unnecessary restrictions that currently affect women’s healthcare centers in Virginia. The Supreme Court has just affirmed in the Whole Woman’s Health decision that these restrictions create undue burdens for women seeking abortion care. On behalf of the majority of Catholics in Virginia and across the United States who support access to comprehensive reproductive health services, I applaud the Board of Health’s decision to stop letting politically driven regulations curtail access to critical women’s healthcare.

I stand with the majority of Catholics in Virginia and across the United States in support of public policies that respect the ability of women and men to make moral decisions about their own lives. The role of the individual conscience in matters of moral decision-making is at the core of the Catholic tradition. Catholics support policies that enable women and men to make decisions about whether and when to have children. Therefore, Catholics support affordable and safe access to the full range of reproductive health services, including abortion. In a 2014 poll, more than eight in 10 Catholic voters across the US said they support legal abortion in some cases.[i]

The Catholic social justice tradition compels me to speak out against policies that cause harm to those who need our support and respect. I am called by my faith to listen to my conscience, to respect the right of others to do the same and to advocate for the poor and marginalized in our community. Policies like the existing regulations are dangerous to women and families. Rather than protect health and safety, such restrictions only lead to delays and high costs for women as clinics close and remaining clinics are forced to increase operating fees. If these restrictions remain in place, additional health centers in Virginia will close—cutting off access to healthcare for thousands of women in the Commonwealth.

The Virginia Catholic Conference does not speak for most Catholics on these issues. Only 10 percent of Catholic voters agree with the Vatican’s position that abortion should be illegal in all cases. The majority of the more than 690,000 Catholics in Virginia—like Catholics around the world—support access to abortion care and other reproductive health services for themselves and their neighbors.

When considering new regulations for Virginia’s abortion providers, I urge you to keep the needs of women in our community in mind. It is what the majority of Catholics in Virginia, like me, want and it is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,

Sara H. Ratcliffe

Domestic Program Director

[i] Belden Russonello Strategists, “Catholic Voters and Religious Exemption Policies: Report of a National Public Opinion Survey for Catholics for Choice, Call to Action, DignityUSA and Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER),” October 2014.