Virginia Re-Regulates Abortion Clinics In Attempt To Close Them Down

Virginia passed legislation to regulate abortion clinics in the same manner as hospitals, in a blatant attempt to force them to close down. You can see the exuberant look on the faces of three state Senators,  Ryan T. McDougle, R-Hanover (from left); William M. Stanley, R-Pittsylvania; and Jeff McWaters, R-Virginia Beach, as they celebrated Thursday.

The 20-20 vote on Senate Bill 924, which now heads to Gov. Bob McDonnell, represents a significant victory for anti-abortion activists, who have been trying for years to restrict access to abortion in Virginia, only to have bills killed in the Democratic-controlled Senate Education and Health Committee. McDonnell said he will sign the bill, calling it a “clinic safety issue.”

…Democratic lawmakers and women’s rights advocates decried the legislation. They said it effectively would restrict a woman’s access to abortion services by forcing the state’s 21 clinics to meet standards set by the Board of Health regulating hospitals — standards currently not required of other physician’s practices performing similarly invasive medical procedures.

Democratic State Senator Janet D. Howell decries this legislation, saying, “What we are doing is taking…a moderate state and radicalizing it.”

Howell said most of the state’s abortion clinics are likely to close because of the regulations, which could require retrofitting of their facilities and a lengthy and costly certification process that most clinics could not afford.

“The people pushing for this amendment are the same people who don’t want women to have any access to abortion,” she said.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.