Virginia Board Of Health Passes Strictest Abortion Clinic Regulations In The Nation

The Virginia Board of Health passed the most severe abortion clinic regulations in the nation on Thursday, which health advocates say could effectively close down all 22 abortion providers in the state.

The regulations, commissioned by the state legislature and written by the Virginia Department of Health, are largely unrelated to patient health and safety. They would treat abortion clinics as if they are hospitals if the clinics provide five or more first-trimester abortions a month and would enforce architectural design standards that will be almost impossible for most clinics to meet.

For instance, a clinic must have 5-foot-wide hallways, 8-foot-wide areas outside of procedure rooms, specific numbers of toilets and types of sinks and all of the latest requirements for air circulation flow and electrical wiring. Each clinic must also have a parking spot for every bed, despite the fact that first-trimester abortions don't require an overnight stay. Further, Department of Health employees will be allowed to enter an abortion facility at any time without notice or identification.

Virginia Board of Health member Jim Edmundson tried to introduce a number of amendments on Thursday that would lessen the severity of the clinic restrictions and give some facilities a chance to comply. However, all but one of the amendments were rejected without a vote. For instance, he tried to distinguish between first-trimester surgical abortions and first-trimester medication abortions, so that the regulations would only apply to surgical procedures, but the amendment was not even seconded.

"The board is not even seconding proposed amendments being offered," said Patrick Hurd, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeast Virginia, who observed the comment and voting process in Richmond on Thursday. "They're so intimidated by the presence of the attorney general, they're not even allowing these things to come up for a vote."

Health advocates say they are worried that women in Virginia could lose all access to abortions as a result of the new rules, which are scheduled go into effect by Jan. 1.

"Right now, none of our facilities would be in compliance with these regulations," said Paulette McElwain, president and CEO of the Virginia League of Planned Parenthood, which has five clinics in the state that provide abortions.

Hurd told HuffPost that his one clinic that provides abortions would have to undergo "substantial and costly renovations" to comply with the new rules.

"I'm just amazed by their unrealistic and draconian views of how we're gonna transition from a doctor's office that provides abortions to a surgical center," he said. "For us, the regulations are gonna be unduly burdensome and onerous, and they don't reflect what's necessary for patient safety. For others, it sets the stage for the closure of some high-quality health care centers."

Kansas passed slightly more lenient regulations earlier this year that would have shut down two out of three of the state's clinics, but they were challenged in court and promptly blocked by a judge.

One major unintended consequence of these regulations is that if Planned Parenthood clinics and other health clinics that provide abortions are forced to shut down, they will be taking all of their other services with them, such as affordable pap smears, breast exams and birth control for low-income men and women.

State Sen. Ryan McDougle (R), the sponsor of the bill who directed the health department to draft the regulations, said the purpose of the bill "is to make sure that all medical procedures are done in a safe manner." However, there are no other types of outpatient facilities that are being regulated as extensively as abortion providers, and according to the Virginia Department of Health, the first-trimester abortion procedure is already as safe as it possibly can be. Between 1999 and 2009, there was only one abortion-related death, compared with 11 deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the year 2009 alone.

"It's just utterly ridiculous, the regulations have nothing to do with patient health and safety," said Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. "This is just an overreach to the nth degree."

The temporary regulations are being sent to Gov. Bob McDonnell for review. If he approves them, they will take effect on Jan. 1, 2012, for one year, after which they will be replaced by permanent regulations.

Comments

[Bensen23]

06:07 PM on 09/27/2011

Some of you people can't see the forest for the trees. Really if one clinic is not up to the standards they all should be closed. Well honey then they should close 1000's of hospitals in the US. Do you know how many people get staff infections ( which is a very serious condition) after a hospital stay. Give me a break.

[Tracy Kline]

02:11 PM on 09/21/2011

I agree that upgrades are in order. These women should be able to kill their children in a more suitable environment, not in these shady conditions.

[p c r]

10:16 PM on 09/21/2011

No children are killed during an abortion.
An abortion is simply clearing parasitic nonviable products of conception from the uterus of an unwilling host. What is cleared out cannot think or feel or exist outside of the host. It is has not developed into a person yet and is not a child.

[Tracy Kline]

11:48 PM on 09/21/2011

Keep telling yourself that while you support the killing of babies. Terrible.

[synergie]

01:34 AM on 09/20/2011

Anyone else find it interesting that not a single one of the giddy cheerleaders can provide any evidence that these clinics were unsafe?

There is much mule headed preaching, propagandizing and cutting and pasting of discredited and disproved talking points, but nothing to actually suggest that this is anything other than Jim Crow rearing its head in Virginia once again.

[RSGmusic]

07:05 PM on 09/18/2011

morganngraysmom

You did not answer either of the two question asked!! .
The Churches teachings must come from the Bible somewhere?
How would you know they are Our Saviors teachings?

Jesus will deal with any individuals transgressions at the proper time. He doe not give any one, Not even the Pope, on earth to sit in judgement before then.

The new testiment was written to save all the rest of the people that are non Jewish.

The Old testiment is His dealings with the Jewish faith.

[iamone3]

06:57 AM on 09/20/2011

http://www.100abortionpictures.com

After looking at these pictures, tell me if you think this should be legal. Also you do know they sell baby parts. This is big business.

[RSGmusic]

11:00 AM on 09/20/2011

Need to take the pictures case by case there may be good medicle reasons for each.
Again Jesus will deal with these issues at judgement and does not relinguish that priveledge to anybody.

Links or proof on Large sums of money made via abortions.

The large fees for this is in Private practice. A good number of these are conservatives hiding the transgression of their daughters.

[SmileAndActNice]

11:23 PM on 09/20/2011

Why would I follow propaganda links? You folks steal late term miscarriages and mutilate them. Get artistic with dolls and cows blood. And that was before you discovered Photoshop.

I've seen actual first trimester abortions and it wasn't a big deal. And I know known of your links will show actual reality because you want to shock jock and reality accomplishes the exact opposite of your intent.

[BiznessLady]

06:22 PM on 09/18/2011

The last 9 months have been like a strange recurring nightmare that instead of laying down to it, I wake up to it.
It 's like the mental patients run the asylum I can't possibly boycott all of the states that impose these outrageous, unconstitutional laws without now having to restructure a third of my business but I will try. Luckily I have options in other states and I have been moving to go 90% local with supplies by the end of the year anyway.

I dropped 7 vendors based in other RESTRICTIVE states already and that is 4 more to cut from Virginia now. It is unfair but until constituents and businesses see that the actions of their local legislature where it relate to women's issues, health and lives is affecting their bottom lines then they won't push back against them. Remember Arizona People!

Women control the purse strings of most households. We choose where we spend the money. That is POWERFUL!

I sent a note that stated regrettably as a Woman business owner I choose to support businesses in states that support the rights of women. "Recent legislation passed in your state against women's rights has motivated me to send your state legislature a message through you". Please let them know that their actions are affecting your business.

I am afraid that these people forcing their beliefs on others are like a cancer that can't be treated. This is my way of cutting it out!

[SgtMom]

10:33 AM on 09/19/2011

...and you AREN'T forcing YOUR beliefs on others? Others who aren't even responsible for it?

[synergie]

04:57 PM on 09/19/2011

How is she doing that exactly? She's choosing to express her disapproval with the voters by not patronizing them. She's not imposing her will on anyone, keeping anyone from doing anything etc.

[camanokat]

02:42 PM on 09/19/2011

Good for you! Everyone should do this.

[dbrett480]

02:21 PM on 09/18/2011

How many deaths and injuries are caused by abortion clinics having standards that are less than those in the hospitals? If there are any, then there is a good reason for these regulations.

[SmileAndActNice]

04:07 PM on 09/18/2011

Less than 10 a year in the entire country and over half of those are due to allergic reactions to the abortion pill - not problems with the medical procedure - and as such have nothing to do with building specifications.

And plenty of medicines cause lethal reactions in a very small percentage of the population. I, for example, have the misfortune of being very allergic to Novocaine. I cannot properly express how much this stinks.

Of the less than 5 a year that are from surgical most of those are from *late term* surgical. that would be the dangerous, costly, painful abortions that happen with pregnancies the mother wanted to keep but something went horribly wrong. These abortions are already performed in hospitals as things are much more complex later term than elective first trimester procedures which suction out a little blob of tissue smaller than a grape.

Every few years some clinic turns up that is vastly out of compliance with existing regulations and people going there are getting contaminated and infected. But that's all the patients. Singling out the abortions is disingenuous.

Seriously. They aren't cutting a hole into the body. The opening is already there. Either the stuff you stick up it is clean or it ain't.

[synergie]

04:44 PM on 09/18/2011

And by the way, the standards that they've just voted to apply to clinics that perform abortions are not applied to hospitals. They are the design requirements for NEW facilities or facilities that are being remodeled. If these were standards that were of such dire importance to patient care that they required an emergency measure, then why are they not applied to any hospital, clinic or actual surgical facility that exists in Virgina? In fact, how many hospitals and surgical facilities could claim to meet these standards?

[Sarah L Terzo]

07:18 PM on 09/18/2011

Here is a partial list of women who have died in abortion clinics:

http://clinicquotes.com/site/category.php?id=33

Each is cited with a death certificate and other information

Here are examples of clinics with poor health standards- all cited with court documents

http://clinicquotes.com/site/category.php?id=49

[pinknlynn]

01:04 PM on 09/18/2011

First Virginia produced the snake oil salesman, Cantor, now this. I didn't know the state was filled with so many self-righteous, uncaring people. What happens to the unwanted babies born to women who are ill-equipped to take care of another human being? (rhetorical) Not interested in the rhetoric.

[p c r]

04:50 PM on 09/18/2011

It has a lot of sensible intelligent folks who aren't uncaring GOP religious zealots. Unfortunately, the GOP lies fooled too many voters in the last election and we are havig a slump before the next election. .

[bob789]

05:27 PM on 09/18/2011

Once again... you're wrong:

GALLUP: More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice”

[p c r]

12:43 AM on 09/18/2011

This is a blatant attempt by the religious right to restrict a legal procedure in Virginia.

1. The state is forcing only abortion clinics to meet these guidelines­. Existing inpatient HOSPITALS and other clinics are not being forced to comply.
2. Having risky conscious sedation will be in a clinic will not meet these standards. A first trimester abortion uses no anesthetic­.
3. These regulation­s were originally drawn up for new inpatient hospital constructi­on-- places that do complicate­d surgical procedures­. The existing hospitals doing open heart surgery that do not meet these standards (and there are some in the state) do not have to meet the standards.
4. No other surgical or outpatient or inpatient procedure has to have the patient reveal personal informatio­n to outside sources and the government­, especially about the reason for the procedure.
5. The Commonweal­th itself admits that there is no problem with safety in the existing clinics and the new regulation­s would not improve patient safety. The regulation­s are focused only on one specific procedure and has nothing to do with patient safety.
6. If Virginia said that all outpatient surgery clinics and all existing hospitals had to conform to the regulation­s because of a safety risk, no one would complain.

The Health Department director is married to the woman who is the president of the major pro-forced birth group in Virginia.

[camanokat]

12:07 AM on 09/18/2011

I have a fabulous idea. Instead of abortion, we can have fetus transplants to anyone who wishes to carry that fetus to term. Who will step up to the plate? Will you?

[p c r]

12:37 AM on 09/18/2011

No baby has ever been murdered during an abortion. You are romanticizing a nonviable lima bean sized clump of cells into being the Gerber baby/
In actuality, an abortion is when parasitic nonviable products of conception are cleared from the uterus of an unwilling host during a legal medical procedure.

[Karissa36]

10:08 PM on 09/17/2011

Just as a wild and crazy idea, wouldn't it protect women and babies more to apply these regulations to obstetric wards and birthing centers? You know, those places where live babies are actually born, and taken care of after birth. Aw, heck no, who needs to protect them. Pro-lifers can't be bothered with newborns.

[camanokat]

12:09 AM on 09/18/2011

You've probably noticed that the anti-choicers are the very same people who are against giving any help to the newborn. Once it's out of the hoo-hah, no aid should be given to the sniveling welfare cheat.

[synergie]

04:49 PM on 09/18/2011

Aren't these same people all about cutting aid to poor pregnant women as well?

[dandymoonlion]

06:12 PM on 09/18/2011

There are hundreds of regulations, ever hear of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals? And pro lifers are overwhelmingly the ones who adopt, foster or donate to organizations who help needy kids all over the world and in the USA. Do a little original research instead of swallowing more PP lies.

[SmileAndActNice]

07:36 PM on 09/18/2011

You are being tricky. using "pro-life" in two different ways and pretending they are the same!

The political organization under the "pro-life" label is a separate entity from actual pro-life people who actually seek to provide for children.

[leskataus]

08:42 PM on 09/18/2011

If that's the case, then why are there thousands of children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted? The fact is, like with other people wishing to adopt, they only want babies. They don't want older children or those with special needs, both of which make up the majority of children in foster care.

[DRGClarke]

06:26 PM on 09/17/2011

Get them gone any way you can. I think they learned how OBAMA did things since he could get it done then good for them if they can use the same techniques. Pot calling the kettle black. It is kind of funny that the way to save babies is to make sure there is a parking space

[goatini]

10:07 PM on 09/17/2011

Unless each and every health care facility performing outpatient surgery requires a parking space for each patient, this move is nothing but Christo-Fascist harassment of free female US citizens, backed by their pawns in local government. Shameful.

[p c r]

12:52 AM on 09/18/2011

At what point did Mr. Obama pass any legislature that said that one specific legal medical procedure provided for one specific gender was to have unreasonable regulations forced on it in order to deny access to that medical procedure to all people seeking it in one specific state?

You cite that link, and I'll be impressed. Otherwise, you are comparing apples to bowling balls.

[Rickstersays]

04:36 PM on 09/17/2011

unconstitutional.

[DRGClarke]

06:27 PM on 09/17/2011

why isn't it called unconstitutional when Obama makes executive back door deals and adds regulations sidestepping congress?? Same principle only the liberal pro abortion group doesn't like it when they get it done to them.

[goatini]

10:09 PM on 09/17/2011

No, it's unconstitutional, free female US citizens have the Constitutional right to privacy in their health care options, choices and decisions, and you're a vicious ignoramus who wants to enforce your Christo-Fascist Sharia law on half of your fellow citizens.

[p c r]

12:56 AM on 09/18/2011

It is unconstitutional because Virginia is taking the regulations to be applied to new construction of inpatient hospitals and attempting to apply them to outpatient clinics that provide one specific legal medical procedure while not making any other facility including other outpatient surgical clinics or inpatient hospitals conform to them.

Do you understand better now?

There is nothing in Mr. Obama's policies or actions that is anywhere near comparable to this. He has never attempted to restrict legal access to legal medical procedures to any group based on his religious zealotry.

[Bowser2011]

01:35 PM on 09/17/2011

Whether you believe that abortion should be legal or illegal or is right or wrong, the point of the law seems to be to ensure that women are undergoing a surgical procedure in a facility that meets all standard health and safety regulations. All other outpatient surgical centers meet federal health and safety standards, as do hospitals, whether they are older or new. Is there a valid (meaning: NON-political, based on something other than your personal views regarding abortion) reason why this type of center should not also meet these standards?

[leftyirishwoman]

05:35 PM on 09/17/2011

Please read the article. Other outpatient surgical centers do not have to provide these standards.

"However, there are no other types of outpatient facilities that are being regulated as extensively as abortion providers, and according to the Virginia Department of Health, the first-trimester abortion procedure is already as safe as it possibly can be. Between 1999 and 2009, there was only one abortion-related death, compared with 11 deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the year 2009 alone."

[camanokat]

08:25 PM on 09/17/2011

It's not about patient safety; it's another sneaky attack on reproductive rights.

[ProChoiceGrandma]

12:40 PM on 09/17/2011

When traveling to Virginia you will see new signs at the state line:
"Welcome to Virginia, one-size-fits-all burqas available at next exit"

The Teapublibans have infiltrated our government. I partially blame the uninformed voters who ignored the I-hate-women Thesis that Bob McDonnell wrote as a 34 year old married man. Virginia women were forewarned in black and white print the authoritarian intent of that thesis.

Those who claimed they wanted to "take back our country" are taking it back to the Dark Ages and dark alleys. All of you "pro-life" rubes are simply being used as tools by the corporatists who cleverly incorporated the Religious Right after seeing how effective televangelists were at conning people out of their life savings.

[Ossit]

10:55 AM on 09/17/2011

iamone3, those looked like late term and by butcherers who botched things. To anyone here who knows more about late term, wouldn't the doctor just give meds to induce labor or do cesarians?

Tell me if you think this should be legal after you see them.

Do I still think abortion should be legal? I was only 12 weeks old. I went to a site that had three dimentional moving pictures and the head was formed, blurry I couldn't see any facial features, the legs and feet were fully formed but the arms were stumps. With difficulty I tape measured the fetus. It was only 2". My 12 week old fetus was small enough to be sucked out by a tube I'm told as I was completely out. Your site example iamone3 contained obvious butchery of much later terms and I don't think 'real' doctors do that for late term. My position stands. I have always and still will support abortion no matter how the butchers try to taint things. The only part I couldn't handle about my abortion was that my doctor lied by saying it's a bunch of cells. In reality a 12-week old is recognized for the most part as human but still a long way from being fully formed and only 2-3 maybe even 4".

[DRGClarke]

06:33 PM on 09/17/2011

if that is all you couldn't handle then I truely am sorry for you. Abortion leaves scars far beyond the date it is done. Women often experience a detachment towards children and suffer depression. Not that I wish that one you but you speak rather callously about the taking of a life.

[camanokat]

08:29 PM on 09/17/2011

That is a lie. Where on earth did you even GET that idea? I know many women who have had abortions (and many who have not) and not a one regrets it. There are times that a woman KNOWS she cannot for whatever reason, raise a child. She doesn't need nosy nancies poking their noses in her business.

[goatini]

10:12 PM on 09/17/2011

LIAR.

Forcing a woman with an unwanted pregnancy into 9 months of a very dangerous and risky health condition, with possible complications up to and including permanent disability and DEATH, and then stealing the product of her labor to sell to the highest bidder, is what causes deep and permanent scars, depression, and PTSD.