Big Abortion Continues to Distort Truth and Reality

The Virginia Board of Health has once again chosen to side with the abortion industry instead of protecting the health of women and children.

Last week, I attended the Virginia Board of Health’s September meeting, during which the board voted 9-6 to approve amendments to regulations that lessen the health standards for existing abortion clinics in Virginia. As we informed you earlier this year, these unamended regulations were first implemented to hold abortion clinics to minimum standards to better ensure the health, safety, and welfare of Virginians. During the hour-long public comment period of the meeting, NARAL, National Abortion Federation, , and Planned Parenthood staff and advocates repeatedly pushed the board to vote in favor of pro-abortion amendments to these common-sense health protections for women and children. They argued these changes were “best medical practices” and “evidence based” rather than “political in nature.”

Prior to the meeting, women proudly wearing their pink Planned Parenthood shirts discussed the recent videos released by the Center for Medical Progress that reveal the brutal nature of abortion and the profit being made by Planned Parenthood from the butchering and selling of baby parts. “Of course they are highly edited and untrue,” one woman stated, reiterating the liberal rhetoric of those who have not watched a single minute of these videos. “Clearly, truth and reality mean nothing to these people!” the other replied.

Truth and reality. Evidence based. Best medical practice.

The truth and reality is that, prior to the implementation of the regulations that these women were there to protest, abortion clinics in Virginia were in egregious violation of the Virginia health code. The truth is that these regulations were based on regulations that “have governed outpatient hospitals for the past sixty-four years”—evidence that the regulations as originally written actually work and comply with best medical practices.

The board’s vote to amend the regulations was a much closer vote than its original 13-2 vote in December 2014 that allowed the proposed amendments to be considered. This is encouraging because it shows that many more board members are unwilling to amend regulations set in place by the legislature—as they should be.

The board’s vote is not final, and the public has a 60 day time period in which comments can be offered on the proposed amendments to the regulations. As always, the ACLJ will be actively engaging in this fight for life, and will submit  public comment to inform the board of why it should reject any amendments and vote to keep the regulations as they currently exist.

Once the public comment period is open, we encourage you to let your voice be heard and to inform the board of the truth and the reality that these regulations are necessary, that they are evidence based, and that they ensure the health, safety, and welfare of Virginia women.