There is a new sheriff in town and his name is Terry McAuliffe. From NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia:
Gov. McAuliffe has just ordered a review of dangerous targeted regulations on Virginia’s women’s health centers! These burdensome regulations (also known as TRAP regulations) were designed to close the vast majority of abortion providers – and were enacted only after former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli bullied the Board of Health. It is past time that these TRAP regulations get the evidence-based review they deserve – and Gov. McAuliffe has taken the first step!
At an event for National Women’s Health Week this morning, Gov. McAuliffe announced that his administration is:
- Instructing Virginia’s Board of Health to conduct an immediate review of the medically-irrelevant, burdensome, targeted regulations on abortion providers that they approved last year under pressure from Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
- Making five appointments to fill seats on the Board of Health
- Approving Planned Parenthood health centers to participate in a cost-reduced medication purchasing program that will enable them to provide affordable care to more Virginians
It’s about time to put an end to laws that do not make women’s health safer. The purpose of TRAP laws is to weave a web of regulations around abortion providers so that abortion simply becomes too expensive and too inaccessible. Good for Terry McAuliffe. He is doing what I voted for him to do. Of course this fight isn’t over. Not by a long shot! But it has started and that is what is important. Also, last I heard, there is a lawsuit filed by Rosemary and Wayne Codding. Hopefully that will blast a few people out of the water. I simply cannot stand disingenuous concern. The Virginia TRAP laws are based on ignorance.
I wonder how many regulations are applied retroactively. I think in the building code changes (unless major) apply to new structures. IOW, if I built a new kitchen in 1997 using the applicable code, I wouldn’t have to update it as the building code is updated unless I plan a major renovation of it or unless a very obvious safety flaw has been discovered in the prevailing code. The state has yet to prove that a matter of imminent life safety warrants changing the situation.
Like others, I have tried to avoid this conversation. There is strong disagrreement here. Terry McAuliffe, a pro-abortion Catholic, (an oxymoron of the first order) wants to roll back rules requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards of surgical centers. And the liberal base says it has nothing to do with safety, as if an abortion was not a surgical procedure.
Would those same liberals support the Gosnell Standards for Abortion Clinics in Virginia? I guess so.
So wat is the point here — it is not to protect women or expand access to the right to abortion, but to protect less safe abortionists. I view this effort to undermine Virginia’s reasonable and protective abortion clinic regulations as an example of how committed McAuliffe is to the abortion industry — follow the money – this effort has nothing to do with women’s rights, access or safety — its all politics – and it will cost someone’s daughter dearly.
Blue, you are so full of shit your eyes are brown. Excuse me. I simply will not have you spreading lies on this blog.
TRAP laws save no one. Are you even familiar with what they are? Didn’t think so. Double gurneys in the hall and parking lot standards don’t improve women’s health. Abortion is not technically surgery anyway. As for Gosnell, he practiced bad medicine. He performed back alley abortions. He performed illegal abortions. Now what part of that don’t you get? Pennsylvania has standard laws regarding abortion. Why didn’t those laws stop Gosnell? Because he was breaking the law. Unfortunately, abortion still carries a stigma and illegal practices aren’t reported. All the stupid TRAP laws in the world won’t stop that.
BTW, no one is pro abortion. Plenty of Catholics are pro choice in that they believe each person must adhere to what their own conscience tells them to do.
@blue
Let’s hear the data for comparable practices to Gosnell’s here in Virginia. Show me the data.
Yours is an argument geared more to stirring up hysteria for political gain more than it is for providing facts.
That kind of twisted logic has no basis for over reaching generalizations. Do ALL doctors who abuse their patients suddenly become guilty because they practice the same medicine?
Blue, you are coming from such a place of ignorance its hard to digest the fallacy of your point. The complications from abortion in this country are .05 %. You care about women and their health, bullshit. this country ranks 50th for maternal mortality. What women are most at risk of dying from childbirth complications? poor women. Give a shit about women and their babies, support Medicaid expansion!
Always appreciate your ability to discuss a sensitive subject without name calling.
At least 34 states have some sort of TRAP law, according to the National Abortion Federation. Five – count them – all of 5 of Virginia’s 23 clinics that offerred abortions have closed. Cannot imagine what they must have looked like. This is not about access and certainly access trumps safety for those of you who support McAuliffe. So why the intense reaction — because I think you know why he is doing this – and it has nothing to do with access, its about the $1.7 million the tax supported Planned Parenthood contributed to McAuliffe in 2013, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Plus, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia donated $56,000 to McAuliffe’s campaign. Planned Parenthood donated roughly $200,000 to Attorney General Mark Herring and nearly $100,000 to Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, including staff time. Stop being a political tool and wise up to the fact that abortion needs to be safe and regulated.
Abortion not surgery – really!
Blue,
Here is the deal, the laws were intended to close them because it would be financially prohibitive to remain open. In fact, the Board of Health had intended to “grandfather” them in but Cuccinelli threatened them with withdrawing any legal protection if there were a lawsuit.
What I find interesting, is that you are unable to respond to the facts presented to you. So, I guess your faux concern for women is apparent to all. That’s good, at least we know where we stand.
Abortion in the state of Virginia was safe and legal, now it will be simply become unavailable to most women and we will see more women bearing children with no resources and no help. Or we will see women resorting to dangerous means to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
@Elena
Yes, Yes, I see your point. 5 of the 23 facilities were forced to close. I am sure you inspected them and found them appropriate for this kind of major non-surgery. No reasonable person would have found that these 5 facilities should close. Heck, resturants have higher – or at least more consistent inspectable standards. Should the 5 re-open ? Is that your goal? On what basis to you assert that this is in the best interests of women? I am sure you have read the reports.
Facts – what facts? You mean the political pay-offs which are clear or your opinion over what is safe or over what the 5 closed facilities represent to access? Unavailable to most because of the 5 closures – is that your fact?
Blue,
TRAP laws were intended to close clinics that offered abortions and birth control, period. The erroneous regulations have nothing to do with safety. Abortion complications are incredibly rare, .05 does not deserve this kind of attention. In fact, once again, if you actually cared about women and babies, you would be concerned instead of the high maternal mortality rate. There was NO crisis with these clinics. Getting an abortion is not a surgical procedure. You may find it abhorrent, but that doesn’t make it inherently dangerous.
What reports, that there were minor violations, there was nothing of significance from the violations I read. Clinics are closing as was the intent of people like you, they cannot afford to retroactively fit these over reaching restrictions.
Elena,
37 states have TARP laws. I cannot imagine that you are opposed to all regulations for sanitary and health facilitiy condition standards and inspection. Out-patient or not, it is surgery and demands certain standards. I just think its sad that Planned Parenthood contributed $1.7 million to McAuliffe’s political campaign in just 2013 rather than use that money to make the all of the clinics safer.
TRAP laws aren’t about sanitation. Blue,you are simply misinformed There are all sorts of sanitary standards for all medical facilities. Who do you think kept the women of Virginia alive the past 40 years, before McDonnell signed the TRAP reulations into law? Let’s use your head here. It wasn’t blind luck.
It seems like a travesty for babies to be aborted when there is high demand for adoption by infertile couples. It seems like it would benefit society to pay women to carry the baby to term and then give it up for adoption. How much could it possibly cost? $10K for the medical costs + $20K for lost wages and the trouble? That would be a win-win for everybody.
That is done all the time, Kelly. The question becomes, should the law force women to become incubators for other couples? Most women would say no.
Also, I have to remind you that most “babies” are embryos or fetuses at the time 92% of all abortions are performed.
“It seems like it would benefit society to pay women to carry the baby to term and then give it up for adoption.”
Woah. Slow down. That would actually result in some women intentionally becoming pregnant.