Med Student Launches ‘Cooch Watch’ To Combat Virginia Attorney General’s Anti-Abortion Agenda

A medical student launched “Cooch Watch 2012” to combat Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s anti-abortion agenda.  It takes a few good women (and men).

http://coochwatch.com/    The link will be on our blog roll.

A group named “Cooch Watch” after Ken ‘The Cooch’ Cuccinelli just launched to fight back. They aim to stop the attorney general from forcing his will on Virginians. Medical student and former abortion clinic worker Stephanie Arnold is leading the group of about 10 women. Arnold said on a call today that Cooch Watch plans to “attend Mr. Cuccinelli’s public events, ask questions, protest, and remind Mr. Cuccinelli that he is being watched” and will be “held accountable for his actions”:

A rally was held to greet the Attorney General.  (see video)  Please note that we are aware that there is spoof involved.  How else does one work against someone as foolish as Ken “Cooch” Cuccinelli?  He might want to change his name to something other than “Cooch” after he sees the video.

Publications around the state and the nation have spoken out against Cuccinelli’s refusal to certify the recommendations of the State Board of Health who was tasked to come up with regulations.  They wisely chose to grandfather in existing regulations so as to not present an undue burden on existing businesses.

Editorial from The Virginia Pilot

AG Stomps Clinic Rules:

The Virginian-Pilot ©July 18, 2012

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office insisted this week that the refusal to certify recent Board of Health regulations on abortion clinics hinged on legal compliance rather than politics.

That argument is likely to be accepted by those already predisposed to believing him, whether because of the party label he carries or because the end — in this case, potential closure of nearly every abortion clinic in the commonwealth — justifies the means.

The context and relevant evidence, however, suggest otherwise. And the consequences of such a politically motivated precedent could be significant.

It is not uncommon for lawmakers and board members to require changes in practice or policy in the interest of public health and safety. But rarely are changes to building codes mandated on existing facilities, particularly in the absence of data showing they are necessary.

Last year, Republican lawmakers pushed approval of a bill that required the state to consider clinics performing five or more first-trimester abortions per month as hospitals. The designation also meant construction of those clinics could be subject to more stringent codes, and the law directed the state Board of Health to draft regulations accordingly. The board did so on a temporary basis.

The new design codes have been touted repeatedly as a way to boost patient safety. But if they were designed to boost patient safety, they almost certainly should have been required on all outpatient facilities. Or at least on those with the highest rate of patient mortality: Plastic surgery centers performing “tummy tucks” and face lifts.

Complications or death for women seeking an abortion at an outpatient clinic are considerably less likely.

That suggestion, however, has been uniformly dismissed in the debate over regulating a legal procedure upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, an almost implicit acknowledgment that the motivation is restricting access. Protests by physicians and others, who’ve argued that radical design and architectural changes weren’t medically warranted, also failed to persuade. Until last month.

At its June meeting, Board of Health members agreed to expressly exempt existing clinics from facing the prospect of having to widen hallways, expand rooms and implement an array of other costly renovations, or shut down.

The reasoning is sound and, as the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia notes, in compliance with the 2011 law and the intent of the guidelines’ authors. “Recognizing the inconsistency between the draft regulation and the enabling statute, the Board of Health amended the draft regulation to apply the guidelines as the experts intended,” Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastañaga wrote in a letter to board members and the state health commissioner. “This amendment also brings the regulation into closer alignment with the regulations Virginia has applied to every other kind of health care facility.”

The attorney general’s office claims that the board, which is charged with drafting regulations, lacks the authority to do just that. It is a mystifying position only in the absence of context: The latest draft is inconsistent with Cuccinelli’s own ideological opposition to abortion, as well as Gov. Bob McDonnell’s. It’s also counter to the views of the anti-abortion doctor the governor appointed to the state board last week.

The attorney general’s explanation is illogical. The board, however, has done what the legislature authorized it to do, and it has acted consistently by including a grandfather clause for existing clinics.

The board should stand by its decision.

Mother Jones is also keeping an eye on the Cooch.

Rachel Maddow also included material on this issue.