Action | Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 3/29/2013 |
To Whom It May Concern: Please accept these comments, signed by 108 Virginians, in the form of an open letter. Names and Virginia Zip codes appear below the text.
An Open Letter from People of Faith in Virginia Who Believe in Reproductive Healthcare and Religious Liberty
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We are religious people from across the Commonwealth of Virginia. We come together from many different faith traditions, united by our belief that every woman deserves the resources she needs to make her own decisions about a pregnancy, in consultation with her family, her doctor, and her faith. We believe that our state laws should protect access to all forms of reproductive healthcare, including abortion. It is wrong to adopt unnecessary and judgmental policies that place cumbersome restrictions on Virginia women and health care providers.
We are strongly opposed to the proposed new licensing requirements for abortion providers, which have no medical or scientific relationship whatsoever to the health and safety of clinic patients. The sole purpose of these regulations is to burden clinic facilities and doctors, forcing them to raise the costs of their services or go out of business entirely. Provisions like this—and the forced ultrasound law enacted last year—always have a disproportionate impact on a woman struggling to make ends meet, because she has less ability—such as being able to take time off work—to cope with the burden of increased cost, number of appointments required, or distance traveled. As people of faith who believe in compassion and fairness, we consider these measures to be both immoral and unjust.
Further, these restrictions favor and codify one particular set of religious beliefs on issues of life, abortion, and pregnancy. This dangerous precedent imposes one religious view on everyone in the Commonwealth, thereby denying individuals and families the right to make very personal healthcare decisions according to their own beliefs and values. This interference is in direct conflict with article XVI of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which holds that “all [people] are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.”
Again, as religious people from across the Commonwealth of Virginia, we implore you to reject these new licensing requirements. The state should be working to expand access to healthcare and protect religious liberty—not take them away.
SIGNATORIES
Lynn Alsmeyer-Johnson, Virginia Zip Code 22308
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I'm old enough to remember when abortion was illegal in most of the states. Getting pregnant by accident was a scary proposition when I was in college. I witnessed the difference between a freshman from a wealthy family who was able to travel to Puerto Rico for the weekend to have a safe, legal abortion in 1966, versus others who were terrified when they missed a period. Would they have to drop out of school and derail their future plans? Or seek an illegal procedure to avoid the shame and the need to tell their parents? Women deserve better than this. I also lived in California after graduation in 1968, where a friend got pregnant by her boyfriend and they were unwilling to get married to raise the child. She chose to have a safe, legal abortion under Medicaid. She was able to come back to work after a weekend of treatment and recovery. We need to protect the right to, and the accessibility of, healthcare related to pregnancy. This includes birth control and family planning, pre-natal and post-natal care, and access to a safe, legal abortion when a woman deems it necessary for her health and well-being. This should be her decision, in consultation with her partner, her clergy person, and her doctor. As a lifelong Unitarian, I was taught the importance of thinking and making decisions responsibly. I was also taught that men and women are equal as human beings, and that we determine Please allow us to exercise our right to these services, and to lead our lives as our conscience and our faith inform us.
William Alsmeyer-Johnson, Virginia Zip Code 22308
Elizabeth Anderson, Virginia Zip Code 20120
Judith Bailey, Virginia Zip Code 23238
Susan Bennett, Virginia Zip Code 22033
Gloria Berg, Virginia Zip Code 22041
Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Virginia Zip Code 22003
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: As a clergy person, a person of faith, and a woman, I believe that all women should have absolute freedom of choice, and that God is the only One who should judge women's reproductive choices. Please do not restrict women's choices any further.
Amy Biggs, Virginia Zip Code 23455
Courtney Birkett, Virginia Zip Code 53185
Lee Bory, Virginia Zip Code 22204
Ronald Brandt, Virginia Zip Code 22308
Darryl Branting, Virginia Zip Code 20170
Rev. Jeff Briere, Virginia Zip Code 23228
Rev. Paul Brittner, Virginia Zip Code 22655
Claire Brown, Virginia Zip Code 22003
Rhonda Buckner, Virginia Zip Code 22204
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Any limitation on access to safe and accessible abortions put women's lives at risk. Families are also negatively affected. This is a violation of a Woman's right to choose!
Wendy Burns, Virginia Zip Code 22308
Kathleen Campbell, Virginia Zip Code 23235
Gail Christie, Virginia Zip Code 23112
Kasia Clarke, Virginia Zip Code 23226
Maggie Clayton, Virginia Zip Code 22202
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Do not force women's health centers to close their doors over unnecessary regulations. These centers offer vital healthcare options to many women in Virginia and must stay open.
Thomas Wade, Virginia Zip Code 22963
Rev. Elisheva Clegg, Virginia Zip Code 22963
William Clontz, Virginia Zip Code 22308
Jeffrey Cole, Virginia Zip Code 22901
Joan V. Cole, Virginia Zip Code 22901
Stacy Collins, Virginia Zip Code 22205
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Please do not institute these medically unecessary restrictions! Please listen to the voices of the medical community, not religious extremists!
Susan Craig, Virginia Zip Code 22201
Gary Creditor, Virginia Zip Code 23221
Virginia Cronin, Virginia Zip Code 22046
Kim Cullen Cobb, Virginia Zip Code 22301
Jacomina De Regt, Virginia Zip Code 22203
Janice Dean, Virginia Zip Code 22902
Carol Dietrich, Virginia Zip Code 20187
Mary Dudley, Virginia Zip Code 23234
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Women should make the important reproductive choices for themselves.
Martha Duggan, Virginia Zip Code 22201
Cissy Elkins, Virginia Zip Code 23704
Elise Emanuel, Virginia Zip Code 23186
Elizabeth Fanning, Virginia Zip Code 22932
Elizabeth Fogarty, Virginia Zip Code 22207
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: As a person of faith, I encourage the Board of Health to recognize the worth and dignity of every woman, and to respect the right of every woman to make her own spiritual and medical decisions.
Margaret Fogarty, Virginia Zip Code 22207
Claire Fogarty, Virginia Zip Code 22207
Jerrold Foltz, Virginia Zip Code 20120
Peter Fontneau, Virginia Zip Code 22153
Rosalind Gold, Virginia Zip Code 20191
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Do not restrict my right to safe, legal reproductive health care. Allow me to follow the dictates of my religious tradition by opposing restrictive licensing requirements for abortion care providers.
Robin Gorsline, Virginia Zip Code 23235
Kristi Grant, Virginia Zip Code 92630
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I pray and hope you'll listen.
Arlene Harrell, Virginia Zip Code 23238
Winifred Hart, Virginia Zip Code 24450
Stan Hastey, Virginia Zip Code 22304
Ruth Heimburg, Virginia Zip Code 22307
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I respectfully request that Virginia legislators stay out of my bedroom and out of my doctor's office.
Jean Hornberg, Virginia Zip Code 22812
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: No one, especially one who is gender-different from women, has any right to enact legal decisions about a woman's body. That is between the woman and God. Incest and rape are crimes against women and should not be endorsed by any legal or non-legal entity.
Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Virginia Zip Code 22124
Carolyn C. Hughes, Virginia Zip Code 23607
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Making abortion illegal or inaccessible does not stop it. Woman and girls will die or face infertility. No one should stand in judgment of a woman who makes this decition.
Sara Hutchinson, Virginia Zip Code 22305
Bernard Hyde Jr., Virginia Zip Code 22205
Donna Jeanne, Virginia Zip Code 22312
Ben Jesup, Virginia Zip Code 22307
Barbara Johnson, Virginia Zip Code 22205
Margaret Keator, Virginia Zip Code 23606
Patricia Kenny-Priest, Virginia Zip Code 22308
Carmela Knepler, Virginia Zip Code 22032
Rebecca Krasnegor, Virginia Zip Code 20191
Mary Kringer, Virginia Zip Code 22015
Laurie LaGoe, Virginia Zip Code 22309
Phyllis Liner, Virginia Zip Code 22003
Sarah L. Ludwig, Virginia Zip Code 24014
Catherine Ludwig, Virginia Zip Code 22192
Jane Lux, Virginia Zip Code 22150
Bobbie Marcoux, Virginia Zip Code 22151
Claride Mayo, Virginia Zip Code 22306
Joan McDermott, Virginia Zip Code 22207
Rev. Betty Jo Middleton, Virginia Zip Code 22314
Amy Modlin, Virginia Zip Code 24060
Cass Morris, Virginia Zip Code 24401
Virginia Moser, Virginia Zip Code 22152
Sarah Munson, Virginia Zip Code 22203
Barbara Nash, Virginia Zip Code 22207
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: These restrictions regulate health care down to the size of the janitor's closet. This shows me this is a political set of regulations, not a set of health regulations. These regulations need to be denied.
Nancy Norton, Virginia Zip Code 24060
McGrady Patricia, Virginia Zip Code 22201
Ellen Peters, Virginia Zip Code 22124
Donna Phillips, Virginia Zip Code 22602
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Expanding healthcare instead of restricting it should be our goal.
Peter Pocock, Virginia Zip Code 22301
Georgeta Pourchot, Virginia Zip Code 22306
Jeanne Pupke, Virginia Zip Code 23221
Albert Robbert, Virginia Zip Code 22202
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: There is a word for religious beliefs that are imposed as law. It's called sharia.
Ben Romer, Virginia Zip Code 23114
Miriam Rowe, Virginia Zip Code 22309
Leslie Rubio, Virginia Zip Code 23220
Charles Ruby, Virginia Zip Code 22309
Scott Sammler-Michael, Virginia Zip Code 22030
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I find it disappointing that members of the Virginia legislature continue to introduce legislation composed and funded by right-wing enemies of religious liberty. Keep your narrow-minded misunderstanding of faith out of the law that governs all.
Susan Selaya, Virginia Zip Code 23219
Mimi Stevens, Virginia Zip Code 22310
Russell Stumpe, Virginia Zip Code 22308
Edward H. Takken, PhD, Virginia Zip Code 22306
Nancy Theodore, Virginia Zip Code 22204
Nina Tisara, Virginia Zip Code 22310
Elizabeth Vanderwoude, Virginia Zip Code 20110
Lou Ventura, Virginia Zip Code 23437
Bruce Vernor, Virginia Zip Code 20147
Rev. Kate Walker, Virginia Zip Code 22305
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: My congregation and the Unitarian Universalist Association have a long history of supporting the personal rights of women and their reproductive health. These restrictions are nothing more than political slight of hand.
Carol Waters, Virginia Zip Code 23701
Kathie Watson, Virginia Zip Code 22310
Alice Whealin, Virginia Zip Code 22201
Heidi Whitese, Virginia Zip Code 20155
Marjorie Witting, Virginia Zip Code 22307
Phyllis Woodring, Virginia Zip Code 22042
Kay Youngflesh, Virginia Zip Code 22314